


Twinfell

by InstaQuarius



Series: Twinfell- ACT 1: Ruins [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flowerfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Author regrets nothing, Begging, Broken Bones, Crying, Depression, Desperation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Frisk (Undertale) Uses Sign Language, Gaster (Mentioned) - Freeform, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Hurt Sans, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Injury, Kindness, Manhandling, Multiple Timelines, Narrator Chara (Undertale), Original Character(s), Pain, Panic Attacks, Poor Everybody In General But Mostly Sans, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Power Imbalance, Regret, Sans (Undertale) Has Issues, Sans (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Sans (Undertale) Remembers Resets, Sans Has 1 HP (Undertale), Sans Is Losing Hope, Self-Worth Issues, Serious Injuries, Slow Burn, Soul Fusion, Strained Relationships, Strained family relationships, Swearing, Tension, Time Travel, Torture, Trauma, Undyne Cares About Papyrus, Undyne Cares about Sans, Verbal Abuse, Video Game Mechanics, soul torture, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28819038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InstaQuarius/pseuds/InstaQuarius
Summary: It's a Kill or Be Killed world down in the Underground. Twinfell takes place years after the events of Flowerfell, based off an idea 'what if Frisk died before she was able to break the barrier' Follow the story of twin siblings as they try and survive the world of Underfell/post-Flowerfell!
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Asgore Dreemurr & Toriel, Frisk/Sans (Undertale), Papyrus/Undyne (Undertale), Sans/Toriel (Undertale)
Series: Twinfell- ACT 1: Ruins [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113818
Comments: 7
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue: The Legend of the Undertale

**Author's Note:**

> REUPLOAD CUZ I DID A STUPID AND ACCIDENTALLY DELETED THE ENTIRE STORY  
> Was trying to update chapter 15 cuz i absolutely hated where it was going and AO3 wasn't showing it was updating and UUGUH.
> 
> (but also maybe this is a good thing cuz i might go back through it anyways and fix all my former grammar mistakes and the plothole in the story after around 10 chapters there's a slight one regarding gaster and shit and ye)

** Long ago,  **

** Two races ruled over Earth: **

** Humans and Monsters. **

** One day, **

**War broke out between the two races. **

** After a long battle, **

**The humans were victorious. **

** They sealed the monsters underground **

**With a magic spell. **

** Many years later… **

** Mt. Ebott. **

** 201X **

** “Legends say that those who climb the mountain are never to return…” **

* * *

* * *

The Twins SOUL traits:

and the Twins: 


	2. A Sudden Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been 7 years since Frisk has died. How is Sans faring after all this time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcannon time:  
> Sans learned of Heaven and Gods and whatnot from old Bibles or other such religious things, that people from the Surface accidentally threw down into the garbage dump which he collected and thats how he found out about what happens to humans when they die and where they "go." so to speak.
> 
> He also has a lot of other "human" books that arent anime related like undyne and alphys collected but about the anatomy and such.
> 
> Also Chara totally didn't "invent" Secret Garden, that one freaking Flowerfell song that simultaneously breaks my heart, yet is so catchy i love that song to pieces in this AU. Nope. Not at all :'D  
> (And yes, my Chara wanted to be a singer if they coulda grown up to be one. lol. I blame Soundtrack!Chara theories for this headcannon cuz its cute.)

_Frisk was his sweetheart._

_The person who inspired him to change._

_The One that had him wholeheartedly believing_

_That he could still be a better person if he tried to be._

_The person that died trying to save all of the monster kind._

**_And the one whom he failed to save._ **

* * *

“knock knock…” Sans greeted as he teleported into the very edge of the Ruins as always. Sans reappeared in a bright flash of red, in the darkest part of the Ruins and solidified as soon as the soles of his red and yellow untied sneakers had touched ground. His magic spread outwards, starting from the red and white fusion of a GODsoul that he held. The SOUL itself was protected by his rib cage and hidden inside of his skeletal body. He solidified more and more as his magic began to spread outwards and quickly re-created his boney body. The magic traveled down the hidden mana lines that are hidden inside of his bones. The spell eventually finished by creating his bones and forming the thick clothing that covered him from head to toe.

Sans always came to visit, at least twice every single month and without fail. Occasionally a third time as well, if he could get away with it, and he knew he wouldn’t get caught and be yelled at afterward by his boss for his troubles. Or threatened to be sent to the Torture Chamber or, worse, have his favorite mustard taken away for around a month as even further punishment. 

Ideally, if their world was ordinary and one where no one needed to watch their backs every 5 seconds for someone desperate to gain some LV. Or required to ensure no weaknesses were showing that someone could take advantage of in a desperate attempt at survival, Sans would most likely be visiting Frisks’ grave daily if he could. Morning, noon, and night. 

Maybe even move in here and then never leave.

But since he couldn’t, or technically he could, if he wanted his life to be even more of a living hell than it already was (as if that were even possible), Sans had to make do.

This visit would now be his third.

The skeleton monster had reappeared in the furthest, darkest part of the Ruins, the closest by the pillars and archway that surrounded the cave entrance leading into the next room and section of the Underground. The only thing that gave away Sans location and the fact he was even there, besides the greeting he gave, was the bright red glow of both his eye sockets and the dim light of his SOUL peeking its way through his three layers of undershirts and thick black and yellow jacket and red and black scarf. Which usually was where Flowey would stay to hide from the other more violent monsters or those looking for ‘free EXP.’ 

Occasionally Flowey would also come to visit, but he didn’t come as often as Sans did. He’d visit once a month only and sometimes with Sans. Sometimes without. And it wasn’t at all because Flowey cared less about Frisk than Sans did, but because Flowey intended to move on with his life and try to keep living despite everything. Simultaneously, Sans had a much harder time dealing with the grief of losing his sweetheart and, especially so, mere seconds from total freedom.

And it also didn’t help that Flowey lacked a SOUL to feel emotions such as grief anyway and usually only came to visit because he thought it was required and expected of him. And for Sans sake as well, he tried. It was the thought that counts anyway.

Sans’s eye lights were sharp and intense; both were almost looking like a small lit fire from where he was standing in the pitch-black darkness.

Sans quickly blinked away the magic. However, his eye lights faded into a regular white as he allowed himself to relax a bit. 

Here, he didn’t need to worry about fighting anyone. He didn’t have to keep his magic ready at all costs, primarily due to his poor stats and low HP, even with his GODsoul or no. 

Here, he could afford to relax a little and let his troubles go and be himself for once. For whatever that was worth.

He walked towards where the sunlight gently filtered down below from the opening into the mountain overhead and onto a vast batch of golden yellow flowers.

“ _Who’s there?”_ Frisk giggled a bit as she hand-signed the words. She was watching the skeleton from afar happily as she sat in the center of the garden of the wild golden buttercup flowers that were growing all around her and Chara’s graves, waiting for the skeleton to come closer. 

The same flowers that once thrived on her body, before every RESET whenever she died, before her official death when her determination and body simply couldn’t handle so much punishment and fate decided to take her for good. The flowers she died with now grew on her ethereal body as well, although they no longer caused any sort of hindrance as they once did when she was still alive. 

“ _And that’s my cue to leave.”_ Chara shrugged as she floated a little ways away in an attempt to give the couple some privacy to a certain extent. She floated straight ahead, her ethereal body phasing through some pillars, as she headed towards a corner of the room before stopping herself and thought a moment for a way to entertain herself for an hour or less while Sans and Frisk had their “moment.”

They couldn’t talk to each other, of course, since Sans couldn’t really hear Frisk or Chara since they were both already dead and no longer a part of the living world, even if they both still had some sort of “something” holding their spirits to the living plane still.

For Chara, it was the uneasiness of whether or not Monsters would ever be free of their prison, which has now kept them all buried Underground, beneath Mt. Ebott for around 100 years now. 

For Frisk, it was both the regret that she couldn’t hold out until Sans had taken her to the barrier before she died for good but also, it was because Sans didn’t want to let her go yet. And she worried for the tiny skeleton monster who was continually suffering from the grief of losing his “sweetheart,” plus the fact he constantly blamed himself for not being able to save her or protect her. 

Although both of the girls could easily hear what Sans was saying and watch him too. However, the girls could somewhat try and “communicate” to him by merely nearing his SOUL or “touching” his body.

Still, Chara felt rude to eavesdrop on them and tried her best to give them privacy whenever possible. She tried to give the couple some space even if she couldn’t move that far from her physical body, buried deep below the earth more than a hundred years ago, pretty much right besides Frisk’s own body—buried there about more than seven years ago.

After all, Sans always came to visit Frisk the most. And Chara was just fine with that.

Chara died way before Sans or even Frisk was born. She also knew that a good majority of monsters most likely forgot about her existence.

The only monsters that hadn’t forgotten about Chara were the members of the Royal family. Who also became Chara’s adoptive family as well, the Dreemurrs. Like her mother, Toriel lived in these same Ruins after she had abandoned her kingdom and her King post-death of Chara’s and her adoptive brother, Asriel. And then there was also Chara’s father, the mountain King, Asgore, who made the whole Underground “Kill or Be Killed” after a fit of madness following the two deaths of his children, and the tragedy that had managed to take both Asriel and Chara’s lives in a single night.

“flower,” Sans continued as if he could hear his sweetheart speaking to him in response. Sans walked into the golden garden and carefully sat down in front of Frisk’s grave on his knees. He was mere inches near where Frisk’s ethereal body sat, too, their backs just barely touching one another's.

_ ‘come back…’ _Sans thought to himself as he read the nameplate on the two sticks jutting out of the ground in the shape of a cross that also held up a sign which marked Frisks grave. On the movement itself, read Frisk's name carved into the wood by a sharp object like a knife in perfect ‘comic sans’ handwriting font.

Sans slowly stretched his hands outward. He gently began brushing the very tips of his phalanges on the carefully carved wooden namesake, brushing off some moss and dirt that had gotten on the grave marker. He readjusted his old black and yellow jacket; he’d placed over the tag as well that he had given to Frisk 7 years ago to keep her as warm and comfortable as she could back when they traveled together.

The old jacket was still in fairly decent condition. Besides being incredibly faded from being out in the sun the past couple of years and having some wear and tear due to the weather changes from the Surface land thousands of feet above their underground prison.

Sans had a new one, though, so he didn’t mind letting his Frisk keep his old one, And he liked to imagine her still wearing it even as she had angelic white, feathery wings covering her back and a halo above her head. Smiling at him from up in Heaven or wherever the hell she was, that he still couldn’t entirely wrap his skull around and always found human death a bit weird in comparison to a monster’s one, yet fascinating at the same time.

_“Flower who?”_ Frisk asked through sign language as she played along. She shut her eyes closed slowly in sadness when she sensed the pain emanating from Sans’s SOUL. 

She didn’t move from her spot. Instead, she slowly leaned back, just enough so her ethereal back would touch Sans spine. She could almost feel him shiver the slightest bit, past all his many layers of clothes when she did so.

Faintly, Frisk could also hear what sounded to be Chara singing softly to herself and realized her friend must have finally found a way to keep herself busy.

* * *

_‘He said,_

_“Oh Mary, contrary. How does your garden grow?_

_Come with me, and you'll be the seventh maid in a row.”_

_My answer was laughter soft as I lowered my head,_

_*You're too late. I'm afraid this flower's already dead.’_

* * *

_ “ _ please… _ ” _Sans muttered out as she felt him tensing up behind her, and she knew immediately that he was trying hard not to cry.

“f-flower you today... sweetheart?” Sans whispered, his eye sockets growing tense as he struggled to hold back his tears. Sans already, of course, knew he would not be bothered for at least 2 hours since Papyrus had left Snowdin to speak to Undyne in Waterfall. The Royal Guard dogs were all off on their usual patrols, leaving Sans with some time to spend to come to her grave. He knew it would be challenging to dry himself off enough to not look like a total wreck before he had to leave if he allowed himself to cry now.

Sans tilted his head back, looking at the sky above. He didn’t even bother squinting his eye sockets or even raise an arm to protect his eyes from the sun's harsh rays, still reasonably visible in the sky above and very clearly as there wasn’t even a hint of a cloud outside at the moment.

Once again, he imagined his Frisk watching him from the sky above and how she was doing. He wondered if she missed him just as much as _he_ missed her. Suppose she’d thought of him as he constantly did, wishing for more time to be with her, if only to be able to RESET and fix everything.

He wondered if the other Gods up there and other dead people were treating his sweetheart well or not. He wondered if she was even watching him right now and if she knew how much he wanted her back with him again.

“i hate ta  _ bud _ in while yer sleeping, but i guess it would be nice if ya  _ rose _ up and into my arms again.” Sans joked as he fell back into his old habits of using puns as a coping-mechanism. Sans slowly lowered his skull once more, staring at the name nailed onto the makeshift cross sticking from the ground below. “hey...do me a favor alright... _ sprout _ outta there and make me happy again..."

_“Soon…”_ Frisk said, in her usual quiet voice as she signed as well out of habit. She was laughing sadly at his puns. 

_‘But nobody came.’_ Chara thought as she interrupted her singing and let out a sad sigh. 

* * *

_‘Resetting as I was with blossoms in full bloom (blossoms in full bloom)_

_Never a chance to pause with magic to consume (magic to consume)_

_A shadow walked behind me, offering his hand_

_But couldn't understand.’_

* * *

A pang of guilt shooting through her SOUL as she thought about Papyrus scolding him for all his ‘terrible’ jokes that she loved so much. ‘ _Let me go….It wasn’t your fault.’_ Frisk thought to herself desperately, pulling her knees against her chest and hugging them. ‘ _The only thing at fault you ever did, was care for your brother and me. My death was nobody's fault and especially not yours.’_

Sans let out a breath of air, his eye sockets still incredibly strained as he still struggled not to cry. He continued, “hope yer doin' alright,  _ iris _ you were here to hear this, but what are ya gonna do right? anyways...i guess things 'ave been the same as always, boss and undyne are off in the underground talking about  _ poppying _ off tryin’ another coup against the king or some shit. 'dyne is probably trying to convince him to join the rebellion for the umpteenth  _ thyme. _ things in snowdin are...ok. it’s good we  _ lily _ 've so far from the capitol huh?  _ canna _ guy get some rest or what? haha...anyway, the king rarely goes this far out in the underground to take anybody to use as "examples" of us all against the freedom fighters so i guess there’s that. and boss has taken the whole town into the royal guard anyways. so even if the king did ever come out here, the boss would be the one to punish the citizens since they are a part of his crew or whatever."

"and as fer me well...on my way here, i protected mk from some of those teenage jerks. between you and me, they are  _ lotus _ trouble for the little guy because he has no arms, so i scared ‘em off usin' my blue soul magic. they called me a  _ crocus _ shit after i threw them into some snow poffs haha. those little  _ aster' _ s really got what was comin' to 'em. you woulda probs gotten mad or even laughed at me, or hell, give me a silent  _ 'princess' _ treatment. who knows but you right...at least he was happy though.”

_“I’m proud of you, Sans.. thank you for helping him.”_ Frisk tried to reply, turning to give the skeleton behind her a gentle hug. 

" _forget me, not _ frisk, cause i won't ever forget you,” Sans whispered soon after, moving one of his hands up to his chest, where Frisk’s hand was resting right over his SOUL to let him know she was near. Making it seem like the two were holding hands even though they weren’t. “i’m sorry i let you die…”

_“There was nothing you could have done.”_ Frisk tried to tell him. _“You did your best not to kill him, and I’m proud of you for that. Nothing you could have done could have saved me, Sans.”_

She didn’t feel any anger towards him. Not even a single bit when she’d died, and Sans monster soul had accidentally absorbed her human one in response to when he screamed, demanding for Death to give his Frisk back to him before she was even able to shatter the Barrier. Nor did she ever hate him the past seven years that Sans chose to keep his GODsoul a secret from the rest of the Underground.

She didn’t blame him like he’d blamed himself for not defeating Asgore faster. Or how he still felt guilty for the many, many times when Sans himself had killed Frisk with his own hands before she eventually won him over and even got him to fall in love with her so. She held no ill feelings towards the skeleton monster, even when he caused her to go completely blind and after, they traveled together in the Underground.

She simply couldn’t.

She knew Sans had been through so much, though what, she didn’t know. But she grew to love him too, and even if he had been at fault for her death, she knew she would forgive him anyway because she believed that everyone deserves second chances even if Sans himself didn’t believe in it.

* * *

‘ _He said_

_Oh Mary, contrary how does your garden grow?_

_Come with me, and you'll be the seventh maid in a row_

_My answer was laughter soft as I lowered my head_

_*You're too late. I’m afraid this flower's already dead.’_

* * *

For some reason or another, when Sans had absorbed Frisks determined-filled red SOUL. She did not share half of the control with Sans body, as Chara had once done with her adoptive brother, Asriel. Back when he had absorbed her human SOUL too a long time ago in an attempt to help free the monsters as well.

Frisk supposed that perhaps the reason for that was because Sans didn’t want to shatter the barrier after she’d gone anymore, unlike she did. And because their wills weren’t in sync with one another, maybe that was why she didn’t share even a single amount of control over Sans.

After all, Sans blamed himself, sure, but more so, he also blamed the other Monsters too for taking his sweetheart forever away from him. And for aiding in the fact that she could never come back again.

Sans didn’t gain the RESET’s power or even SAVE and LOAD like his sweetheart was capable of doing. When Frisk used her DETERMINATION to override Floweys, it was also unclear if the power just naturally went back to Flowey when Frisk had died, but either way. He also flat out refused to RESET to bring Frisk back, saying he was done with abusing that kind of power.

Sans hated everything about the Underground. He hated the ‘Kill or Be Killed’ law of the Underworld. He hated the fact he had to keep living without Frisk, but most of all, he hated the truth as well that nobody even bothered to at least **try** and remember the kindest human in the Underground. Or how every single monster continued being violent and cruel towards one another. And that they still killed each other indiscriminately just to gain some EXP or LV to live another day in this hellhole. 

Or how, despite his, Frisks and Flowey’s best efforts, nothing had changed in the Underground. And the fact was that Frisk died for nothing...

Sure, Undyne became inspired by Frisk for constantly sparing her. Despite how when she and Frisk first met, Undyne was incredibly bloodlust for Frisk's final human SOUL needed along with the other six SOULs that Asgore held to shatter the Barrier. And she more or less became the same heroic Undyne she used to be, even if she was still incredibly violent and wouldn’t hesitate to spill blood or dust if need be. 

Even with Undyne’s so-called “Freedom Fighters” group of around seven Temmies and a Bob she recruited from the small Temmie Village living in Waterfall, none of Undyne's efforts to overthrow the King have been effective at all. And Sans had already lost the HoPe that he ever had that things could get better.

Sans hated being alive. He hated that he still existed at this point, living on without his sweetheart there with him to make living a little more tolerable. The only reason he continued to try was all for Papyrus because Sans didn’t have it in him to leave his little brother alone to deal with things, despite how poorly Papyrus mistreated the more petite but older brother.

He hated how everyone kept pretending that his sweetheart had never existed. 

None of them even bothered to try and learn from the very thing Frisk died for, trying to teach everybody: ‘ _Always be kind. Sometimes, kindness is enough. Sometimes, kindness is all you can give.’_

And so Sans simply felt no need ever to use his GODsoul to free them all to the Surface, no matter how much Frisk had sacrificed trying to bring everyone just that. 

As far as Sans was concerned, the whole lot of the entire Monster Race could rot down here for all he cared, which wasn’t very much, to begin with at all anyways. 

Thousands of RESETs and being forced to watch his loved ones and brother killed before his eyes over and over, and living and reliving the same day again had completely broken Sans ability to care for much nowadays.

* * *

_‘Scattering petals down the road without an end (road without an end)_

_Left on the battleground for one, I called my friend (one I called my friend)_

_Maybe he loved me as he took me by the hand_

_And tried to understand.’_

* * *

Sans had sacrificed everything, trying to get Frisk over to that Barrier. He even betrayed his brother by lying directly to his face about “taking Frisk to Asgore” for the sacrifice. When in reality, he intended to help protect her. Sans had also disobeyed direct orders from Undyne to stand down for this Human child who refused to fight back, no matter what occurred to her.

She could have saved herself if only she had fought and killed back. But she showed Mercy even to the most troublesome of monsters of all. And the most stubborn like he’d once been until he realized she was sincere and not at all lying or trying to manipulate him.

Not to also mention how much Frisk had sacrificed as well. Only for everything to completely fail in the end. Each time she was killed and RESET, a fresh flower bloomed on her body, eventually completely stealing the use of his limbs, sight, and even the ability to speak and hear.

His Frisk had died in his arms, only maybe just a few seconds from reaching the Barrier. And to Sans, it felt like such the biggest slap in the face of them all. And then, as if the Universe thought that Sans hadn’t suffered enough, he absorbed her SOUL and eventually realized he didn’t have the power to alter fate or change destiny the way that Frisk did.

That, despite supposedly having the most potent power of all, besides having all seven human souls fused into one being, Sans was utterly powerless and couldn’t just try again until they got it right.

It felt like a wake-up call to him that there would be no escape from any of this. And Sans decided he’d had enough.

She’d given her life, wanting to teach the Monsters what being kind was like again, if nothing else, and how to show Mercy. Just because she’d failed to free the monsters from the Underground that they were all trapped in behind an unbreakable barrier. None of the monsters ever showed any gratitude or even tried to remember her. 

* * *

_‘I said_

_Oh Mary, contrary how does your garden grow?_

_Stay with me. I can't see anywhere that we could go_

_Their answer was laughter as darkness swallowed them up_

_*One more time. I'll be fine. Sometimes kindness is enough.’_

* * *

He hadn’t even heard the last words they tried to give to him before she’d died. And to this day, he still wondered what it was she was trying to tell him to remember. 

He hoped it was something kind and that it wasn’t that important, and not knowing even to this day was driving him mad.

He hadn’t even told her just how much he had appreciated the kindness she had shown to him or told her how much he wanted to keep her with him forever. And that he’d be happy even if they never left this Hell, so long as it meant getting to keep Frisk all to himself.

He never got the chance to ever thank her for all the hope she’d given to him that he could still be redeemed and be a much better person. For believing that he could always be and do good if he just tried, despite his 5 Levels Of ViolEnce (LOVE) that he had.

He never told her how much he treasured her presence or even apologized for ever doubting her.

He hadn’t even told Frisk how much he loved her…

  
  
  


A red-colored tear slowly began to spill out from Sans eye sockets, leaving a red streak dripping from his boney cheeks and onto one of the flowers as he whispered, “i love you...sweetheart. so...so please, come back now. we can try again, and this time break the barrier for real.”

“please.”

“i promise not to get mad if you RESET.”

“... having the power of a god wasn’t worth losing you…”

“i need you, sweetheart.”

“this isn’t fucking  _ funny,  _ frisk…!”

“please.... i’m sorry i fucked up, okay? or for killing muffet that one time…”

“i can’t continue living this life without you here.”

“do you think this is a game? huh? are you really just gonna keep things as they are now? what the  _ fuck _ was all that work even for…!?”

“....please…..frisk……..”

“what's the point of making memories if you can't even keep 'em…”

“please….just come back.”

“...why am i such a fuck up?”

“frisk, if you're mad at me...i’m sorry okay? i’m sorry for being such a fuck up. i’m sorry i’m so pathetic and worthless. and-”

“god, i’m just sorry okay? so...so please…”

“let me reset…! we can try again and, and i’ll do better this time…!”

“....”

“...i need to stop doing this…”

Sans had fallen on his back in a heap as yellow flowers and petals began to scatter from the landing and gently floated all around him. Sans started to lift both of his boney hands, slamming them both back down over his face and eye sockets as Sans began to scream, and even more tears started to fall out of his control now.

“Frisk… I don’t know what else you want from me…! Please...I need you here, Frisk… At least, if I had you here, it might even make living through this agony somewhat more tolerable. Please...I don’t know what else to do. Frisk………..”

A pang of bittersweet regret shoots through Frisk as she watches the skeleton crying on the ground. She hated seeing him cry like that, and so, this emotion was what eventually drove her to try and somewhat comfort Sans, despite him not even knowing she was there, but regardless, she didn’t want him to suffer alone. 

Frisk once more gently lays a hand over Sans chest, causing the GODsoul to react as she calls it forward, and the SOUL slowly begins to float outside of Sans body for a moment. “ _Shhh...It’s okay… Sans, breathe. Please…”_ Frisk says, this time out loud.

Sans breathing hitches when his SOUL was suddenly ejected outward from his body against his will. For a moment, he could have sworn he heard a familiar whispering as he stared at the SOUL through his blurred vision from his intense crying.

_ “ _ but it’s not...it has never been…” Sans had choked out while desperately trying to calm himself and focus on his breathing. A hand slowly ventures forward, gently cupping around the floating spinning SOUL directly above him.

“ _No...but it will be. Have faith. Sometimes...our pain can heal others… You’ll see. I could never hate you. Sans…”_ Frisk once more tried to converse. Her own ethereal hands also gently surrounded the exposed SOUL, hovering over Sans’ bony ones. After a few seconds, she slowly grabs hold of Sans’ own boney hands, moving them automatically towards Sans’ face, and wipes his tears away.

Sans didn’t even become fazed. Even as his arms began to move on their own. Even as he allowed for “Frisk” to gently wipe away his tears. “i love you...sweetheart.”

“ _I love you too, Sans. But you have to let me go so you can move on…”_ Frisk consoled, wiping his tears and began to pull him up into a sitting position.

Sans body began to move like clockwork, as he slowly pushed himself onto his elbows and then slowly back up again until he was sitting, with his legs were crossed. Sans sniffled a bit, taking in another breath as he slowly calmed himself down. His eye sockets felt puffy, and his throat felt sore now from the screaming he did earlier.

‘i don’t think i can…’

_“You have to try…”_ Frisk whispered. “ _Please, Sans. Enough about me, you should be living your best life even if it’s without me in it. You have to let me go so you can move on.”_

Sans shook his head, placing a bony hand to his face in dismay. The other was still holding his GODsoul in his hands and “holding on” to Frisk’s ethereal ones. “...i need you...sweetheart…” He runs the edge of his sweater against his eye sockets, wiping away the red tear streaks from his eyes.

It was time to go back.

Sans sighed as he forced his combined soul safely back into his ribcage, keeping a hand there to feel its warmth, the other moving to his knees as he slowly stood back onto shaky boney legs. 

It was time to go back to playing pretend. Pretending Sans still didn't have problems getting over the death of Frisk, and that everything was fine and that _he_ was fine.

Sans forced his magic out, then slowly started to reign the power it held back inside himself again. He had to make sure he had perfect control over his magic, and to keep only one eye glowing red, his magic in careful control as he held back. His posture also became something that was a bit more defensive and agitated. Ready to defend himself and fight back if need be, at a moment’s notice as he turned away. 

Frisk gave him one final hug again. “ _Please, promise me you’ll try and be happy, no matter what happens. Your smiles suits you best.”_

Like always, he looks back before he leaves. 

Like always, he whispers, “I’ll wait.” 

And like always, there is no response.

Chara shut her eyes, as he’d made the promise and finished the rest of her song:

_“Oh Mary, contrary_

_How does your garden grow?_

_Don't leave me, please don't be the seventh maid in a row._

_My answer, a whisper soft as he lowered his head_

_‘Set him free. I'm sorry, this flower's already dead!’”_

Sans began to make his way down the hall and back to where he first reappeared from in front of the entrance to the small chamber like room where usually Flowey would be waiting. He raised up a hand, his phalanges ready to snap, as he focused his mind on his destination. While simultaneously also focusing up his magic to make the teleportation jump when suddenly, from up above he thought he heard the sound of children screaming. 

Sans looked up in alarm. His hand shifted as he started to summon bones in the palm of his hand as he looked for the screamings source and it was then that he finally noticed two more human children trip on some kind of vine in the Surface world and tumble their way down into the Underground. The two of them landed smack in the middle of the garden, one of them even landing and breaking the tomb marker where Frisks grave was.

“what the fuck?” Asked a very bewildered and confused Sans.


	3. Always Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see a flashback to how the twins fell in the Underground and officially meet the kiddos!
> 
> But it seems trouble is brewing in the Ruins. What will Sans do about the new humans who've fallen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation of the wing dings section of symbol at the very beginning of this chapter: "Dark, darker yet darker. The darkness keeps growing. The shadows cutting deeper. This next experiment seems very, very interesting. What do you two think?"
> 
> And yes, Gaster is the one who first turns the kids soul blue and p much yeets them both into the underground from the void. And my excuse is because he's a Boss Monster but for the skeleton race. Because I refuse to believe that the Dreemurrs are the only Boss Monsters around and maybe there are other kinds for the other types of monsters too, and gaster has just so much power he can semi still interract with the outside world, even if he technically no longer exists. (also, if anyone's wondering, yes i'm also making undyne a Boss-level type monster like the Dreemurrs for whatever the crap race she is. and thats why she's able to naturally create her own determination and so on. and why she's a beast in general lol.)
> 
> Also, the random periods throughout some of the dialogue when Frisk is speaking to Sansy is meant to also show the random pauses in the phone call, besides the static and done on purpose.

_“Hurry up, Otaku! Before that cloud goes over the horizon! I can feel myself growing old over here!” Akumu urged, standing about a foot away from the ledge on her tiptoes. Her hands were cupped over her eyes to shade them from the sun's rays. Her dark blue bangs were pushed off to the side of her face as she stood at the edge of the tall mountain of Mt. Ebott, down at the tiny city the two had just left to go hiking a couple of hours ago._

_Off in the distance, a large white cloud was slowly making its way to cover over the city Aku was now staring at from near the mountain top. The cloud was grey, signaling a rainy day down in the city._

_Otaku looked up to where his sister was standing. He was at least 4 or 5 feet below her, gasping for breath as he slowly pulled himself up a rocky ledge, finishing his rock climbing journey. The boy reached forward, grabbing onto a vine—some of his clothing snagged onto some thorns of a nearby bush. As soon as the boy had gotten his knee and both legs up on the ledge, he took his time to untangle himself from the bush and made his way forward, following a somewhat flat dirt path until it led to another ledge higher up than himself._

_Sighing, Otaku stretched upward, standing on his tiptoes as he grabbed the side of the ledge and pulled himself up, now finally catching up to where his sister was waiting for him. He placed both his palms on his knees when he bent forward, trying to catch his breath._

_Akumu grinned, seeing her bro had finally caught up to her when she looked over her shoulder to check on him. Then frowned a little when she saw the cloud had now completely covered the small city of Ebott from her view—ruining her plans of sharing the special moment with her brother and got him to check out the fantastic sightseeing spot she’d found._

_“Aw, dang it, bro. You just missed the coolest view ever! Pity you won’t get to see Ebott City from way up here like I did! Slowpoke..” She teased, turning on her heel as she walked towards her brother. Akumu handed him a bottle of water she’d packed and patted his back while she allowed him to catch his breath._

_Otaku accepted the water thankfully, taking a huge sip of the half-full water bottle before handing it back to his sister. Otaku began to sit on the ground, still struggling to catch his breath as he wiped the brow of his sweat and adjusted his hat tilting the bill of the baseball cap down to shield his face from the sun that was still shining high above them. His body was not adjusting at all higher altitude and thinner oxygen from how high up they now were. They were at least several feet past the clouds by this point and still had a bit more to go before reaching the summit, though they were nearly there._

_“Huf...huf...Okay, okay, you got your view...Maybe we should turn back now…? Please?” Otaku practically begged. Wishing he was back at home in his room in the orphanage and working on some brain teasers or other such things instead of climbing up a mountain. Oh, how he wished he could be exercising his brain right now, instead of doing all these fitness things he knew he wasn’t cut out for at all._

_Not like his much more athletic, older twin sister who stood in front of him, waiting both semi-patiently and impatiently at the same time. He and Akumu weren’t that much apart in age. She was_

_“Pf, no way!! Come on, where’s your sense of adventure, bro?” Akumu pouted, placing both her hands to her hips. “And besides, we’re_ **_so_ ** _close to the top!! It’d be a shame to quit now! We’re nearly like, 90% of the way there. Trust me. The climb isn't even THAT bad. And I chose the easier side to climb too, just for you, Lil’ bro. We’re like, literally almost_ **_right there_ ** _. It’s just a tiny bit more, and then we’ll head back, okay? And you can go back, brothers nerd stuff. It’s just a little bit further. You can do it! You made it this far after all!”_

_Akumu gently patted her brother’s back more, running her hand down from the end of his sho down toward his lower spine. She knew how much he hated doing anything physical related and could already mentally hear him whining how much this whole thing sucked and complaining even now. But, she also knew it was good for him to get out every so often and get some exercise, even if he despised it._

_Some part of her couldn’t help but pity her younger brother, knowing way too well how much she too hated being forced to do things she didn’t want to do either. In some ways, she was also grateful that he kept his complaints to a minimum and primarily inward. Only rarely speaking his thoughts, albeit politely, unlike herself, who was very much almost the exact opposite of her brother and would make herself be heard every single chance she got. And tended to get quite mouthy, even when it got her into trouble time and again._

_“Says you! Honestly, I don’t even know if the view from the top will be worth all this trouble like you keep saying… We’re so high up, and anyway, isn’t this the mountain where people disappear from and never return? Everyone in Ebott City is always talking about the legend… what if it’s true?”_

_“They’re just rumors, bro. And besides, they also say that those who went missing climbing up here were by themselves. They probably just fell off the mountain, and no one’s found the bodies yet. Or, maybe some kidnapper lives up here to sell those kids for human trafficking or to be some child soldier in some far-off country.” Aku explained before pausing as if considering something._

_“Or maybe there’s a vicious murderer out there like Freddy Krueger that’s hiding up here and waiting for his next victim,” Akumu smirks, somewhat teasingly, when she suddenly grabs both her brother’s shoulders and makes him jump a little._

_“Sis, quit it!! I still can’t normally sleep after you made me watch that movie!!” Otaku pouts, glaring at his sister behind him when she begins to laugh. “And thanks...now I’m even MORE scared of being up here! Can we_ **_please_ ** _just go back now? I mean, we’re alone too! And-”_

 _“Learn to relax and live a little, bro!!! There’s no_ **_Freddy Krueger_ ** _up here! And even if there_ was _, I’ve seen that movie dozens of times to know what NOT to do when facing a deadly murderer!! I swear, it’s like those people who get killed in those cheesy horror films practically BEG to be sliced up! But that’s what makes them so damn good! Hahaha, plussss who the hell do you think I even am, dork?!”_

 _“As if I’d let anything_ ever _happen to you. I didn’t when mom and dad died in that car crash seven years ago, and the police wanted to split us up and send us to two separate orphanages because there weren't enough rooms. I fought to keep us together because you are the only family I had. And I certainly won’t now. And third, we’re not all one. We got each other. We’ll_ **_always_ ** _have each other's backs! I mean, jeez. You’re so scared of everything, Ota. It’s kind of cute and yet annoying at the same time.” Aku teased again, playfully flicking him on the nose and then pushing the bill of his hat up with one finger so she could see his eyes correctly. “But like, seriously. What’s there to be scared of anyway? We’ll always be fine, so long as we have each other. We’ve got nothing to fear, okay?”_

 _“There’s plenty of reason to be scared, sis.” Otaku pouts more, sticking his bottom lip out, as he starts to stand and face his sibling more appropriately, “I’m scared because_ **_you_ ** _refuse to be! And because it’s dangerous and we’re high up on a mountain with no proper equipment! And now you’re talking about the possibility of a killer being up here too.”_

 _“You’re the only one with a weapon that knows how to fight, and I’M just like that one smart, nerdy guy who gets captured easily and always the first one killed!!” Otaku argued, throwing one of his hands off to the side, the other clenching into a fist at his other. “And even if you do protect me...It’s not like it matters. I’d rather you live than me having to watch you get hurt, always protecting my wimpy butt! You’re_ always _protecting me, and you’re always so cool and… if there were a murderer up here with us, I’d rather it_ for once _, be me and not you. Okay? You don’t always have to protect me...”_

_“Uuuuuuuuuugh stop that already. It’s my job to protect you. I’m the older one! And you worry too much. Come on, look, I’m sorry for teasing you like that. Nothing’s going to happen to either of us. If anyone tries to even fuck with you. I’ll kick their ass make them wish they never did, just like those kids back ‘home’ who always bully you for being a nerd. I promise. I was just pulling your leg, bro.” Aku soothed, a little bit of regret settling in her heart now at how worried Otaku was of their safety as she gently pulled him in for a hug._

_“Swears,” Otaku whispered, returning the hug. “And those are still kids and teenagers like that. It’s different if it’s against an adult… they’re bigger and tougher.”_

_“Oh, swears, schmears. I’ll still kick their ass. Hmph.” Akumu frowned, her brow creasing slightly when she felt herself being heavily underestimated. She then gave a gentle bonk on her brother's head as she still hugged him tighter._

_“Adults aren’t that much different. Sometimes they’re just a bunch of overgrown-sized children like us too. I’ll make anyone sorry they ever try and mess with my little bro. Plus, I did bring my cellphone with me and all the emergency contact numbers we need if anything happens. We could always just hide. We’re lucky there’s so much nature growing on the side of the mountain. We could use those bushes or something like a nest if any real danger comes our way, and I got med kits in my pack and a first aid kit just in case. So, we’re not_ entirely _out of supplies. We’ll be alright. The most that can happen to us anyways is us tripping like a couple of dumbasses, and falling off the mountain, and if you fall, I’ll catch you, bro. We’re a team. And teams stick together.”_

_After a few seconds of hesitation, Otaku gave a slight nod, feeling somewhat more relieved. “Teams always stick together…” Otaku confirmed, smiling at his sis._

_Akumu grinned, relieved to have calmed her brother down as she decided to let him go. Waiting a couple of seconds for him to fix his hat again and get himself ready to continue their little adventure. “Well then, now that we got all that mushy shit out of the way………… I’ll race ya!” Aku yells, grinning from ear to ear before zooming on ahead, spotting a stretch of flat land leading up the hill further as she takes off in a run._

_“Huh?! H-Hey!! Wait!!! SIS!!!” Otaku screamed, jolting a bit when he suddenly saw his sis running off ahead of him before he realized what was even happening and started to jog after her._

_“Hahaha!!!” Akumu laughed as she glanced over her shoulder to see her brother catching up to her from behind. She moved forward once again just in time to notice the massive hole in the center of the mountain right in front o her, which seemed to have spawned out of nowhere. Woahmu screeches to a halt, reeling forward slightly when she suddenly stops herself in place. Her momentum continues to push her forward as she waves her arms around at her sides, one leg kicking back, as she begins to balance herself on one leg, dangerously close to the edge, while trying to keep herself from tumbling down. It took a couple more seconds before Akumu was able to gain enough stabilization to replant her feet and backpedal a bit from the massive opening as she began to pant, leaning forward when Otaku had finally caught up to her._

_Akumu plants both the palms of her hands to her knees pantingly, and Otaku places his hands to her back, looking concerned._

_“Sis! Are you okay? I saw you about to fall and-” Otaku asked, looking panicked and searching her expression._

_Akumu gave him a soft smile as she tried to play it off coolly. And not look freaked out too, at the thought she was_ that _close to just running off the edge of a cliff like a complete imbecile. “Woah, Woah. Easy there, bud, I’m uh- okay… heh. See? Nothing is broken, so no harm is done.” Aku says, standing a little straighter and placing a hand on top of his own to comfort him. “This place looks to be pretty steep. I guess we shouldn’t be running around up here.”_

_Otaku opened his mouth as if wanting to argue and tell her he could see right through his sister and tell her that she had messed up but seemed to have decided against it at the last second. Instead, he began to step away a little. And he started to panic once more. “N-No, this is bad. This is like, REALLY bad!”_

_Otaku turns his head, making eye contact with Akumu. His eyes begin pleading with hers. “Sis! Maybe we should go back now. It’s a dead-end… This is a bad idea, and I guess we can’t climb up any higher, so I vote that we make our way back down again before it starts getting dark. Please?”_

_“No, it isn’t! It’s not that bad, bro. I just slipped on this stupid gravel.” Aku says, kicking at the ground for emphasis. Some of the debris, rolling off the ground and tumbling down into the hole in front of the twins._

_“Besides, there’s a pathway just right over there.” Aku points toward a narrow path made of pure stone that seemed to line against the cave walls protruding off a huge boulder and shaded over the hole the two twins were standing 10 inches away from. “We just need to cross that little thing, and we can get to the other side! If we’re careful and pressed our backs flat firmly up against the back wall, I’m sure we can both make it through. Come on, unless your chicken!”_

_“Sis, please. I mean it this time! You almost just now went tumbling down that hole! Are you sure you want to keep risking yourself doing all these stunts? Just for a stupid view?!” Otaku bites his lip nervously, glancing from the hole which leads to seemingly pure darkness and back to his sister in front of him, already looking ready to go on without him. However, she did still offer him her hand to hold onto if need be. “I don’t wanna be left behind, I just… I hope you know what you’re doing alright?”_

_Otaku sighed, accepting her hand and allowing her to pull him forward. As she began to take a side-stepping pose, she began to take out her sickles hooked to the bottom of her backpack by strong velcro._

_Aku took a look at the skinny pathway, then at the rock wall, at first tapping the wall with the back of the handle in her grasp. Then suddenly, she lurches forward, digging the sharp blade of her sickle into the wall to use as a sort of handrail. She gingerly placed one foot ahead, as if testing the ground to be able to hold her weight and then the other._

_She turned her head to face him, “Let me go as far as your arm can reach, and then it’s your turn, alright? I got you, so you won’t slip in case anything happens.” She tells him, readjusting her hold on his hand, lowering it so she could grab his wrist instead, and then makes a slight motion telling him he should do the same._

_“This is so, so bad...If we die, sis, I swear I’ll kill you!!” Otaku swallows, nodding in understanding as sweat begins to break out of his brow again. His heart started to race 30mph in his chest when he saw she was full-on standing on such a skinny ledge with both feet on it this time. And he could also see her hand holding onto the sickle-like a death grip and just gradually inching her hand forward along the length of the handle._

_He then realized that if his sister indeed slips and fell, then the only things that would be keeping her from falling off would be her hand on her weapon and his hand holding onto her arm. It’d be up to him to hold her up until she was able to gain a foothold again. And the same would also be said of her too, only far worse, since he had no other handrails beside his grip on his sister's hand._

_Akumu let out another laugh, not at all thinking of the repercussions like he now was, “That’s a bet I’m willing to take, I guess. Come on. So long as we stay together, we can do this. Easy does it…” Aku reassures him once more. Carefully pulling him along, once she’d stepped forward enough, she could just barely still reach him, turned back to face him, urging him on._

_“Sis..?” Otaku says, holding her hand tighter as he gingerly took a step forward, just as she did to test if the path would hold his weight as well now. And then the other. “I’m scared.”_

_Now, they were standing on pretty much a tightrope, held thousands of feet high above the ground on a thin piece of rock sticking out from the wall and directly over their inevitable doom._

_Thoughts that began spiraling in his mind were almost too much to bear as he started to hyperventilate a little. The only thing keeping his sanity was the vice grip he was certain to be giving his sister’s arm at this point. And he was only vaguely aware of how tight he was holding onto her by the sheer white of his fingers and how bright red Akumus' wrist was under the black sleeve of her hoodie._

_Akumu, however, seemed unfazed by this as she continued to give her brother's own wrist a reassuring squeeze and mumbling out encouragement. Fully understanding how terrified he must have been at this very second. She’d be lying if she wasn’t scared herself, but what’s a life worth living without at least_ some _thrills every so often, right?_

_“I know. You’re doing great, Ota. Just try not to look down, okay? I got you.” Akumu continues to encourage, brushing her thumb ever so slightly back and forth across his thumb in an affectionate and relaxing manner while giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I got you.”_

_“Y-Yeah…okay,” Otaku whispers as he follows after his sister, keeping an eye on where he steps as he and his sister continue sidestepping their way forward. And keeping his eyes focused on his sister’s shoulder and body to avoid looking down._

_“Just a little bit further…” Aku reassures him, slightly squeezing his hand as she pulls her brother forward. The two siblings continue to cross. They approach where the narrow pathway starts to end and gradually slope to stable ground. Aku’s foot slips on the loose rock. Her other hand instinctively tightening more around her brother’s hand, and the other one shoots upward, lodging her sickle into the rocky wall. One leg now dangling over the ledge while the other attempts to save herself and ground herself._

_She starts to look down and notices that she sees a beautiful golden patch of yellow ( what she assumes to be) flowers, thousands of feet below them. Deep within a dark cavern and surrounded by gray rocks. Sitting in the middle of the yellow was something white and black. Although she couldn’t quite make out what or who it was down below. “Woah!” Aku shouted, quite startled by the near fall._

_Otaku nearly falls on his bottom, both hands now holding onto his sister's hand for dear life as he struggles to pull her up. He starts to dig in his heels, his feet beginning to slip underneath him from the loose gravel. “S-SIS!!” Otaku screams out when the ground begins to also cave in._

_“Otaku!!” Akumu gasps in alarm, holding onto him tighter when the entire ground starts to crumble, and Otaku begins to fall, only stopping because Aku was still holding onto him._

_“AAAAAH!! S-SIS, I’M FALLING!!” Otaku cries out._

_Akumu cringes a bit, struggling to support her brother's weight along with her own. Her right arm grips tighter onto the sickle that is still lodged into the wall. Just then, she could feel the wall now starting to give out as the crack surrounding the blade deep into the rock wall got bigger and bigger._

_“Ungh…!! J-Just hang on, bro!! I got you!!” Aku winced, still struggling to hold him as she felt his hands beginning to slip from her hold due to her sweat. She swung her legs off to the side. Her feet’ soles now resting against the rock wall while still trying to find some sort of foothold and find some relief for her arms._

_God, everything just hurt so much. Some part of her was almost tempted to release her sibling to save herself. But somehow, she knew she couldn’t._

_She’d gotten them both into this mess, and she wasn’t about to betray her twin just to save her own skin._

_There was a slight give as the gravity seemed to only increase around the two humans when they slipped, and it felt odd._

_It felt as if they had just entered some sort of forcefield or invisible bubble. Akumu felt normal gravity from her elbow and up her arm, which was still gripping onto her sickles outside of the invisible barrier or bubble. The rest of her body, however, felt much heavier gravity from everywhere else. Suddenly, their SOULs had appeared in front of them, almost blue in coloration. Just then, Aku saw how the rock wall gave out, and the blade of her sickle seemed to be ejected out of the wall like it had been forcibly removed and jerked outward. Thus causing both the twins and the sickle to tumble into the darkness down below._

_“ DARK, DARKER YET DARKER… THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING. SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER. THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT SEEMS… VERY, VERY INTERESTING. WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?” _

_Akumu let out a gasp when she felt and saw the sickle become ejected out of the rock wall. For a moment, time seemed to slow down as she made out a very blurry portal, and strange symbols appeared before her in a black text. However, she couldn’t quite understand what it meant as the two started to fall down._

_“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The children scream as they begin falling inside the mountain._

_The last thing that either of the two sees is the sickle’s image seemingly changing directions midair. At first, the blade falling and clearly poised to potentially land in either one of the children's stomachs, impaling one of the two for sure. The next, clearly being misdirected as if by some mysterious force, so the blade was now pointing away from either of them._

_Then the two twins felt as if they’d landed on a sort of bubble and felt themselves floating for but a second. As if now weightless, and then felt a sudden THUD! And golden yellow petals scattered all around them and flew up into the air before gently cascading back down. Then all they could both see was a bright light. And after that, a distant memory seemed to enter into Akumu’s mind…._

* * *

  
  


_“It sounds like it came from over there.”_

_“Oh, you’ve fallen down...haven’t you?”_

_“Are you okay?”_

_“Here, get up.”_

_“Chara, huh? That’s a nice name…”_

_“My name is....”_

* * *

Akumu and Otaku slowly began to re-open their eyes. The two found themselves now successfully at the very bottom of the mountain’s hole, staring up at the direct sunlight that blinded them both from over a thousand feet overhead. 

Akumu was the first one to move, raising an arm up over her face and shutting one eye closed. Groaning a little from the effort, she felt sore all over. Feeling the sting of pins and needles all along her body. When she raised her arm, she noticed many golden flower seeds sticking all over her clothes and hair. The sight caused her to jolt upright in alarm to attempt to remove the seeds but try as she might. They refused. 

Sighing, Akumu began to sit up. The first thing she noticed was that she was still holding on to her brother's arm. Even after they’d both apparently lost consciousness from the way down, she never let him go. She felt relieved to see her brother looked to be okay when she glanced over at him. She leaned forward, helping him begin to sit up as well, and tried to brush off the seeds of the flowers from his clothing.

“Sis?” Otaku asked, a little disoriented. It took him a couple seconds to notice they were sitting in the center of a massive garden of golden yellow flowers. His hat had fallen off from the fall and was now sitting on the ground next to him and upside down. The sunlight from above cascaded over his much lighter blue hair, making it appear almost green in coloration.

“Yeah, I’m here, bro. I’m alright.” Akumu reassured him, reaching over to pick up her brother's cap before handing it back to him, then proceeded to pat his back. She noticed from her peripherals, what looked to be a grave to the left of the twins that read the name: “Frisk” in perfect comic sans font, but it looked to be handwritten as well. Etched into the wood by something sharp.

This struck the child as a bit odd. She began to wonder what kind of nerdy idiot actually took the time to copy what “ _comic sans”_ of all fonts looked like and then made that their handwriting, word for word? And who would be that meticulous about it? Didn’t they have anything better to do?

On top of the wooden grave marker was also an old jacket, weathered by time and faded a bit.

Otaku jolted up when he saw the grave, urging his sister up. “Oh, I’m sorry for disturbing you!” Otaku apologized, seeming to be talking to the tomb whom both had been lying upon. “Was… was it you, who perhaps caught our fall? Thank you.” Otaku replied gratefully, and he placed his palms together, paying his respects to the grave.

“Yeah...Thanks.” Akumu follows suit, following after her brother, and pays her respects. After she then noticed that besides the spot, they were now standing near the flowers, it was utterly dark everywhere else. However, off in the distance, it looked like a pathway led out of the room and even further into the Underground, barely silhouetted by the sunlight filtering in from above. 

* * *

_‘What? I don’t get a ‘thank you’ either? Rude.’_ Chara thought as she watched either of the twins. However, she wasn’t really offended since her grave was unmarked. She already knew and accepted that most people and monsters had already forgotten about her anyways.

* * *

“H-HELLO!? IS ANYONE UP THERE?! PLEASE, WE NEED HELP!!!” Otaku suddenly screamed, his hands cupped around his mouth as he was staring directly upwards. “Oh darn it… There’s no one up there. It was just us… UGH. Sis, this is why I told you we should have turned back!! This is all your fault that we’re now stuck down here!!”

“Wh-!? Oh, okay yeah, sure, put _all_ the blame on me. I just- Ugh.” Aku huffed, frowning a bit. “I just wanted to climb a mountain.”

“Yeah, and it was a bad idea!! I told you, but you didn’t listen to me.” Otaku argued further. “Where are we anyway? And, what are these graves? Is this where those missing children went?!”

“I guess, but it’s only one, though… Lots of people have gone missing around here. And, well, um…” Aku took another look around before looking back up to the hole they fell from and inspected the walls. “Well, there’s definitely no chance of climbing back out that way. The walls are too steep and- oh jeez, where’s my sickle?” Aku proceeded to get down on her knees, searching the tall flowers for her weapon. “I know it fell down here somewhere...”

Otaku furrowed, deciding to help his sister search as well. 

* * *

Frisk began tugging at Chara’s dress, her face lighting up past all the flowers on her face and around her eyes. _“Hey Chara, maybe this is just the kind of break that we needed! Surely these two could make it all the way through the Underground, right? We should help guide them! Together!”_ Frisk signed to her excitedly. She always wanted to know how it felt to be the ‘narrator’ of sorts, the way Chara had once been for her, back when she was still alive. Like, an ethereal guardian angel watching over them. Only now could both potentially do that for these two newcomers.

 _“Heh, exciting, huh? Yeah, I guess we could. We got nothing better to do here, anyway.”_ Chara shrugged, having already made up her mind to get back into that role once more. Though she seemed happy to be able to do so again with a friend. 

After all, it was Frisks’ idea to save them both from their inevitable death by flying in the way of the sickle to divert the blade so that it wouldn’t impale either of the twins. She wondered if this time, these two would be able to save the Underground once and for all and free all the monsters. The way that Frisk tried to do too, before falling victim to her own curse.

She knew monsters didn’t deserve their prison. Nor for the world they lived in to be “Kill or Be Killed,” and she wanted more than anything for someone to end this legacy of theirs that the mad King had forced down onto everyone. 

It had been her fault that this had gone on for so long after all. Because she decided to stop Asriel from taking vengeance for her on the humans that had abused her and taken his adoptive sibling for granted and getting him killed too. Thus ruining his plan to set all Monsters free earlier.

He was never supposed to die.

That’s why she’d offered her SOUL to Asriel when he suggested that one of them should be the sacrifice while the other absorbed them to become a God. Because the only way to break the Barrier was for a monster to absorb a human SOUL to pass through it and get back in freely. Or absorb 7 human souls combined with one monster SOUL to shatter it completely. 

Chara, of course, had never once expected the monsters to welcome her into their home so kindly. She was a human and one of the same exact race that once executed many Monsters during the War without remorse or regret. Thus, causing many Monster races, such as Skeletons, Ghosts, Undyne’s race, and so on, go either entirely or nearly extinct. And then trapped and banished the monsters below ground behind an unbreakable Barrier. It took 7 powerful mages to create.

Logically, the monsters should have hated her when she first fell down there. After all, the humans caused so much of the monster’s suffering. And had left them to potentially starve themselves to death. Just as it was the humans that caused much of her own.

She’d only wanted to just end her pain. Right then and there. And that was when she decided to go to Mt. Ebott of her own free will, looking for a way to escape the pain. She’d hoped the fall would snap her neck, and her pain and sadness would end.

And instead, she got far more than she ever thought she would ever deserve or even thought possible she could ever get in a million years.

A real family.

A family that cared, loved, and even treated her like one of their own. And not at all like a human, but like a fellow monster. 

And it was because of the Dreemurrs that when the time came to choose whether or not to take out her revenge on the humans that made her suffer, she decided to forgive them. And continue with the plan to _only_ kill 6 more and gather their SOULs to shatter the barrier and free the rest. She had found it in her to forgive the humans for what they did, as it was because of what they did, she met the family she knew she belonged to.

Asriel, however, realized what had happened to Chara that made them want to kill themselves by falling into the Underground. After accidentally reading her memories due to their SOULs being fused, she had gone mad with power. Shouting about how none of the humans deserved any MERCY and instead deserved death for causing his adopted sister so much pain.

Though Chara could understand Asriel's rage, she only wanted to calm him down and complete the plan. She never expected the humans to go and assume that Asriel had been the one to kill her and then attacked him so viciously.

She had only wanted to make things right.

Not to get her brother killed as well. 

Because this only helped further cause even more suffering for the other Monsters. Especially for the King. The death of them both caused him to harshly take his children’s death personally. Leading him to decide to make the new law of the Underground “Kill or Be Killed.” Because of that day, he decided that MERCY would get anyone nowhere, and killing would be the only way to survive.

And so, that’s why Chara kept it in her heart the hope that these two humans would be able to set things right and fix the mistakes that she had caused so long ago. Frisk had tried and failed, not of her own accord but because Fate had other ideas in mind.

She had to keep hoping that someday soon, monsters would be able to roam free and learn what it’s like to have compassion again. And indeed, the world didn’t _have_ to keep being “Kill or Be Killed.”

* * *

Akumu, after some time, finally found the sickle and picked it up.

 ***You found a sickle.** Chara narrated for the twins, just as Akumu had equipped the weapon again. It was then Akumu noticed she no longer had her ‘pack with her. Instead, she found she had a whole inventory, despite not having a bag on her anymore, with 7 slots open, as two of the spaces were filled with an empty water bottle and some bandages. Which were the exact same items she had in her backpack.

“What do we do now, sis?” Otaku asked, not seeming to notice his sister’s lack of a bag. He was more relieved that his sister had found her sickle as she wiped her hands clean on her pants.

“Well, if we can’t go up...I guess the only way to get out of here is to go forward, right?” Akumu advised as she turned toward the direction of the dimly lit pathway she’d seen earlier, which led to the middle of a wall with a large stone archway surrounding a door that seemed to lead to a dark area. Leading the twins even further into the mountain. “Surely there’s bound to be another exit somewhere down here.”

“I guess so…” Otaku says, trying to be brave as he too turns towards the pathway his sister was referring to. “It sure is dark up there, though… I-I’m scared, sis.”

“You’re always scared. I, on the other hand, am not afraid of anything. I’ll protect you, bro, don’t worry.” Akumu comforted, deciding to lead the way.

Sans continued to watch the two children from his hiding spot behind one of the nearby pillars surrounding the garden. The skeleton was well-hidden in the shadows, even keeping both his eye lights extinguished as he crept closer in the darkness.

 _‘no fuckin’ way am i gonna let either of you two escape from ‘ere brats.’_ Sans thought to himself, his spine pressed up against the pillar. He took a step forward, letting the sun outline that of his red and white sneakers. He slowly began to raise one of his hands. His phalanges tensed as his whole hand ignited in powerful red magic. His eyes lights also ignited in response, along with his GODsoul as he summoned forward several sharp bones in the air and positioned them at the two children. “no hard feelings or nothin’, i just got a job to do ‘s all.”

“Huh?” Akumu asked, hearing the soft voice in the room. She turned around, facing towards the direction of the sound, and noticed just a little too late when the bones were suddenly thrown at herself and her brother. Sharp pain and bones pierced through the two kids’ bodies and flesh, and they were sent flying backward from the impact. Their SOULS were immediately turned blue when Sans had activated his gravity magic on top of the bones. 

Sans once again jerked his arm forward. And both of the children were slammed hard into the rock wall behind them. The bones effectively pinned parts of their clothes and limbs into the wall.

Frisk and Chara turned around in alarm, seeing the twins being attacked and turning their attention to the tiny skeleton. Full-blown panic seemed to take over Frisk as she flew over to Sans, telling him to stop. Somehow forgetting she was already dead, and he couldn’t hear nor see her anyways.

“AGH!” The two siblings grimaced in pain as Akumu noticed she had an HP bar of sorts, dropping down from 40 to 35. She saw next to her that her brother had one too now. His HP also began dropping down from a 35 down to 25 due to the ability of his SOUL trait being DILIGENCE and it doubling the damage taken.

 _‘Goddamnit! What the hell is going on?!’_ Akumu thought as she desperately tried to get free. She struggled, but nothing happened.

In front of her, Sans walked further out of his hiding spot from behind the pillar. The skeleton monster kept one hand extended outwards, which was now glowing blu. The other was kept hidden inside of his coat pocket while he marched over to the two children.

“AAAAGH!! An M-Monster!!!” Otaku cried out when he saw the skeleton monster approaching them. His body began to shake in fear as he began to struggle as well, trying to get himself free of the bones keeping him pinned as well.

“heh... it’s a beautiful day outside. birds are singing, flowers are blooming. on days like these, monsters like me should be burning in hell.” Sans voice came out cold and threatening, “you two _really_ shouldn’t have come down here, ya know?”

“Well, good for you. Glad we’re on the same page here. So then, how about you fuck off then and GO to hell, damn it and _not_ take us down along with you jerk!!” Akumu shouted in anger, still struggling to break free. She saw a set of buttons appear before her: FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY. Though right now, it seemed she could do nothing but ACT and STRUGGLE due to hers and her brother's predicament right now. “We didn’t even mean to fall down here, so how about you let us go, and we’ll gladly find our way out and get out of your skull, okay?”

“hahaha…! ah, sorry, no can do, kid. for y’see… if i let ya go, it’ll only cause a whole lot of problems fer the both of us.” Sans simply replied as he started to summon up more bones again. “trust me, it’s by far better fer you two to jus’ die to _me._ right here, right now. it’ll be over quick and painless.”

“W-why? M-Maybe w-we can talk this out, okay?” Otaku pleaded, still shaking in fear. “You don’t _have_ to hurt us, do you? I mean, if you’re in trouble, m-maybe we can work something out. Help each other?”

“hahahaha...help each other? sure, ya can help me by lettin’ me  _kill you._ hehehe… get with the program, kid.”

“P-Program? What program?” Otaku asked curiously.

“down ‘ere, it’s ‘kill or be killed.’” Sans advised. The skeleton monster's grin grew as he showed off his sharp teeth and singular golden tooth. He began to lean forward, resting his hand against the wall, just over Otaku’s head as he locked eyes with the boy. Otaku staring down into the empty eye sockets aside from his red glowing eye lights.

Otaku’s and Akumu’s eyes grew wide in alarm to as big as dinner plates, their pupils dilating a bit as the information started to sink in.

“hehehehehe. n’ even someone as lazy as me’s lookin’ fer some free exp kid. and since you two’s were dumb enough fer me to catch ya well, them’s the shit.” Sans grinned widened more, letting the fear sink in as he jabbed a finger into Otaku’s face more. 

“B-But...that can’t be all there is to this place! I mean, can’t….can’t anyone be a good person...if they just tried? E-Even you can too if you wanted to be. Wh-What about “don’t kill...and don’t be killed,” instead?” Otaku asked. Sweat began dripping as he saw Sans’s phalanges twitch slightly, resulting in some bones once again being sent flying towards him and piercing into his body. The resulting pain caused the boy to scream out in pain.

“OTA!!!!” Akumu cried out, struggling more now as she glared at the skeleton. _‘GOD...DAMNIT!! Leave my fucking brother alone asswipe!!’_ Akumu thought to herself and hated how useless she was at this moment.

 _“Sans, please stop!!!”_ Frisk tried, using her voice though it was starting to tire her out when she wasn’t used to it. 

_“Frisk, it’s no use. We can’t do anything. We’re already dead!”_ Chara yelled, trying to calm Frisk down and also hating watching this. She knew Sans wasn’t generally like this, nor did he want to believe in the “Kill or Be Killed” law of the underworld, but he was just simply accepting it due to losing Frisk.

“” don’t kill ‘n don’t be killed?” that’s the stupidest thing i ever heard. “” everyone can be a good person if they just tried?” hahahahahahahahahaha….!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA…!!!” Sans laughed, tilting his skull back even as he did so, the laugh sounding insane almost to a certain degree as there was an undertone of sadness to it that neither of the twins could deny. “don’t be ridiculous.”

Sans finally said after he began to calm down, even wiping a tear away from his eye sockets with the sleeve of his jacket, “people can’t change. even if they want to. hehehe….or else, i would ‘ave… a long time ago. hell, the whole underground woulda changed too even. hehehehe...no. people can’t change who they are. no matter what. it’s pointless to even try.”

Sans bitterly turned his attention behind him, and for a moment. The twins seemed confused, wondering what he was looking at and then, it clicked. 

He was looking at the grave. The grave belonging to “Frisk.”

Frisk winced when she saw this, still wishing that she could do something to take away the skeleton’s pain. But she was out of ideas and in too much of a panic. Not wanting the skeleton to spill any blood. _“Sans...please...of course people could still change, including you. you’re just scared to try again, that’s all. Please...don’t do this…”_ Frisk pleaded, as she and Chara continued to helplessly watch.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Both the twins asked, looking somberly at the skeleton in front of them.

“...d’ya really wanna know so badly? fine, it’s time fer my smokin’ break anyways. ‘m already late anyways t’ see the boss, so fuck it.” Sans sighed as he finally pulled his other hand out of his pocket. He held a box of cigarettes in his phalanges as he placed one of them between his teeth and opened his jaw. In the other, he produced a lighter, which he was also carrying in his additional pocket, and flicked it, creating a flame, and he lit his cig. 

The twins watched the skeleton monster with curiosity as the skeleton began to breathe in deeply. They even noticed how his ribcage had sunk in a bit before inflating again as he exhaled. And for a moment, the twins questioned how the hell could a skeleton breathe anyways if they didn’t have any organs.

“i can see ya both questionin’ me ‘why do i smoke,’ and my answer is, it’s none o’ yer fuckin’ business. secondly, don’t try this habit, kids. b’cause once ya start, then ya can’t stop. almost like killin’ heh. and if ya can’t stop, then yer brother pesters you, and no one ever wants t’ be around ya...not that anyone does anyways. but ya know, it still fuckin’ sucks.”

“anyways, the person that i tried to be and change into? he was a fuckin’ wuss. a fuckin’ loser.” Sans deadpanned, his eye lights extinguishing as a dark expression gradually appeared over the skeleton's face. “all that ‘mercy,’ kindness bullshit never got me nowhere. i’m _way_ better off now.” Sans sounded like he was trying to convince himself of this fact.

“i was taught a long time ago that in this world, th’ sooner that you can develop a _hard shell_ , the sooner…” Sans paused to once again breath in the toxic smoke of his cigar and then exhaled it back out again, “the sooner...that you realize that nothing ever fuckin’ matters down ‘ere. every single day is fuckin’ misery. so, why even try? anyone who tries is fuckin’ stupid. it’ll jus’ get you killed, and no one will even bat an eye at ya fer _trying._ especially if you fail right afterwards. no one fuckin’ cares if you try nor even how hard you _tried_ , they only care about _results_ and only about themselves.”

Otaku’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to argue, but Sans cut him off. 

“that’s the expression of somebody about to tell me, “that’s a horrible thing to say,” but you know it’s true if you really think about it. jus’ don’t fuckin’ try, in fact, don’t even  _think_ about fuckin’ trying. trust me, it ain’t worth it. y’ should just do what i do, an’ jus’ put in the most minimum amount of effort into every single fuckin’ thing you do, every single fuckin’ day.”

~~~~

~~~~

“you wake up every mornin’ and be as lazy as you can get away with. and you _do_ as little as you can get away with. y’ only do shit that actually matters, and only _when_ it matters. take it from me, kid, i’m speaking from experience.” Sans sighed, again inhaling the smoke and exhaling it back out.

Once again, Otaku really looked like he wanted to argue, and once again, Sans cuts him off.

“now _that_ is the expression of somebody about to tell me, “you’re wrong. this isn’t how this world actually works,” but kid. maybe things are _different_ upon the surface. the hell if i know, but down here...well, i’ll just let my bones show you what this world’s really like, i suppose, huh? i’m just about done smoking here, so how about you two fuck off and get outta my sight.” Sans says, again taking one huge inhale of smoke as the twins watch the cigarette get smaller and smaller. The smoke escaped out from the cavity of where the skeleton's nose should be, his eye sockets and corners of his mouth where the teeth didn’t entirely fill in the gaps of his skull. 

More bones were suddenly summoned, floating in the air above the two kids who looked on in fright. 

“W-W-wait!! Y-You can’t just- I- … uuuh…” Otaku stammered, his pupils shrinking more so as he was effectively frozen by terror.

“How about you fuck off!? What’s with the damn attitude anyways, you freak?!” Akumu snarled, growing more and more pissed by the second. “That didn’t even explain anything, why you gotta treat us like this. What the fuck!?”

“what’s up with my attitude? ahaha...HAHAHAHAHA!!!!” Again, the laugh came out almost insane as it got louder and louder; this time, it took a few minutes longer for the skeleton to calm down before speaking again, “my attitude...my...attitude? you really think that i have an attitude? nah, kid. i’m jus’ saying it how it is. that’s all. heh, you ain’t seen _nothing_ if you think that **I** have an _ATTITUDE.”_ Sans says, showing a bit more emphasis, when the font he was speaking in suddenly changes to that of aster from comic sans. “fuck off, kid. yer breakin’ up the scenery.”

Frisk jolted a bit as Sans dissipated the bones. Instead, he began forming two giant Gaster Blasters aimed directly at the two children. Frisk glanced around frantically, somehow accessing Sans’s cell phone. She began to call it, just as the Blasters began charging up their beams.

“oh, for fucks sake...it’s probably the boss wondering where the fuck i am.” Sans furrowed as he picks up the phone, “i better answer before he blows a femur. tsk.”

Sans picks up the phone, allowing the blasters to continue charging their blasters and to stay in the air as he hears the familiar ringtone of his song “Theovania” playing. He pushes the green flashing icon of a phone on the keypad and putting the speaker to the side of his skull where his ears should be. “what the fuck do you want, bo-”

KKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! A loud static noise breaks through on the other end startling the skeleton monster, which jerks the phone away from his face, shutting one of his sockets as he winces a bit.

It takes a few seconds before, instead of hearing Papyrus' familiar voice, he hears a woman instead. “Sssss…” KKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHh-

“Sssssaaaaannnn-”

“what the- hey, who the fuck is this?!” Sans demands, growling in anger suddenly as his bones suddenly grew tense, startling the twins. _'what the hell is this?! this voice…’_ Sans thought quickly, recognizing who the voice belonged to.

“Ssssaaannsss….” The voice spoke belonging to Frisk, focusing hard as she transmitted her voice through the phone's speaker as she “stood” right beside him. “Sans, c-can...can...you…?”

 _‘this voice...no way, this can’t be real. it can’t be…!’_ Sans thought again furiously, his phalanges tightening ever so slightly around the phone. “if this is some sort of prank, i swear to _fuck,_ you’re-!!!!”

“Sans, please...do you hear me? It’s….really me. I’m here. Sans. I’m right here. I….always have been…”

“F-Frisk?!” Sans suddenly shouted, gasping when the phone’s receiver finally seemed to stabilize, and he was able to hear her more clearly. Sans was so shocked he almost dropped the phone but caught it just before it slipped out of his hands completely. “Frisk!! I-I can-!!”

“I’m...here. Sans. I’m sorry.” Frisk spoke aloud, her voice wearing out, but she was determined to get her message through to the skeleton she’d fallen in love with. No matter what. “I’m so very sorry, Sans. I w-wi….I could-”

The phone once again began to static and distort as it attempted to get a clearer signal. 

At this point, Sans had dissipated the blasters, as now all of his attention was focused entirely on the phone in his hand. “Nononononono...wait! Frisk!!!” Sans began to plead as he fell to his knees, his hands shaking as he held the phone tight in his hands like his life depended on it.

“S-” KKKKSSSSSSSH- “S-Sa-” KKKKKKKSHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

“wha- frisk, i can’t...you’re breaking up. sweetheart. please, come back. talk to me…!” Sans replied desperately, almost wanting to smash the phone against a rock to make the signal come back. He didn’t want to stop hearing his sweethearts voice again. Oh, how he thirsted to listen to his sweetheart’s voice again, like a starving, dehydrated man in the middle of a desert.

“.........yo…..hear me?” Frisk tried again, also seeming to grow desperate and frustrated at the phone’s lack of cooperation. 

KKKKKKKKKSHHHHHHHHHHH….

Chara watched, shocked that whatever Frisk seemed to be doing was working to an extent and that she found a way to communicate with him, even if it was a little choppy.

Sans pulled the phone away from his skull, staring down at the screen. 

“w-wait, frisk, just...hold on, sweetheart!” Sans gritted his teeth as he clenched the phone in both his hands, shaking the thing violently as he willed for it to keep working. _ ‘Come on, come on!! Work you stupid, hunk of junk!!’ _

“San-” KKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

Sans began tapping the back of his phalanges on the screen, even pressing all the buttons on his keypad. Which only succeeded in making the static get even louder now as he sunk even further to the ground. “nononono...come on. come on!! this is the _opposite_ of what i wanted, you stupid-!!!” 

KKKKKKKKKKKSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Sans began to press the “forehead” of his skull up against the phone screen as he begged, _pleaded_ for it to work again. His GODsoul now glowing with strong magic and appearing right out of Sans’ chest. “Please...please...let me hear my sweethearts voice again…Please, Gods up in heaven or wherever the **fuck** you are...Please… Please, I can’t lose her again. Please. Say something. Anything. Don’t go away again, please. I need you, sweetheart. Don’t go, don’t go.. don’t go. Come back.”

"come back. come back. come back.comeback.comebackcomebackbackbackbackback..."

“Come back. come back… please, oh, stars, just let me hear my sweetheart one last time. please. i can’t do this on my own. please. please. don’t leave me. i’m sorry. please. please. come back. come back. come back. i’m sorry. i’m sorry for being such a massive fuck up. don’t go. don’t go. sweetheart. please. please. please. come back. come back. come back.”

There was a pang in everyone’s hearts as they all watched the skeleton monster in front of them, slowly starting to lose it as he clutched onto the phone for dear life. 

Begging. 

Pleading for the signal to come back. 

The skeleton was quite visibly shaking at this point. His bone-rattling sounded loud and clear past the many layers of clothes that he wore, and the sound echoed back and bounced off the walls of the stone cavern in concert as if taunting him.

“please, please, please just come back…i need you. sweetheart. please-”

* * *

It took several seconds before slowly, the signal began to come back, and Frisks’ voice spoke through his phone speaker. “Ssssaaannnssss…? Sssssssssaaaannnnsssss…. I’m….here. I’m.... hhhheeerre… Sans. Can you...hear me?”

There was a sharp gasp of pain as Sans spine suddenly became rigid and his eye sockets widened. It was a wonder to the twins how his spine hadn't snapped in half at that moment.

“Y-Yes, Frisk. I can hear you! I can...hear you...sweetheart.” Sans lets out a breath of relief, continuing to press his face against the phone's screen. “I can hear you, Hahaha….Oh, stars. You’re here! Y-you’re...you’re really here.” Sans began to laugh as red-tinted tears slowly pooled and dripped down his skeletal face and onto the hard ground he was now kneeling down on. “y-you...you came back, frisk. i- i missed you so much, sweetheart….!”

“I’m really here. Sans. I’m so, so very sorry. That...that I-I didn’t make it t-to the Barrier. But I’m here now. I always have been.” Frisk tried to explain, her throat tightening up and knowing all too well how much Sans has missed her. He tells her every single chance gets to come to visit without missing even a single beat.

“how, frisk? how are you- w- _why are you…?"_

“D-Do you...still remember...what I told you…? T-To...Always be kind. That. Sometimes, kindness is. Enough. Sometimes, kindness is all we can give. I...I told you...That we’d make it. Through. Together. I...I didn’t plan...for things to end up this way. But it’s beyond me now. I cannot RESET. And, I know, that neither can you. A-And...I can’t...talk like this for long.. but, I just...Wanted to tell you.”

“Sans… I’m proud of you.” Frisk says with sincerity.

“wha-?” Sans eye sockets widened in alarm when he heard this, jolting a bit in panic. “w-wha...t? h-how. how c-could you b-?” Tears continued to flow down the skeleton’s cheekbones, refusing to believe the words he’s been wanting to hear for so long. _ ‘she’s...not... mad? even though...i...’ _

“f-frisk...come on. i...i _gave up_ trying to save everyone…! i-i’ve hidden the godsoul, i- how could you be proud of….me…? frisk...come on...honey…” Sans stammered out, watching as his red tears fell onto the phone.

“I. I know. That this world. Has scarred you. I know, that living. In this world. Tears at you. Everyday. And, that it continues...To beat you down. Tortuously… but yet. D-Despite it all, it’s still **you,** Sans. You’re still you. And. And I’m proud of you for that.”

“i-i’m n-not…” Sans sniffled, tears flowing harsher now, as his bones and body continued to tremble. “of course, i still remember...what you told me. about being kind and showing kindness. but i’m not. i’ve...done. so many terrible things. i’ve _continued_ to do such terrible things. how could you ever be proud of me for this?!”

Sans bent his head down, one of his hands moved away from his phone, as it gently gripped around his GODsoul, as the skeleton continued to cry. The action inhibiting his ability to speak even further. But Frisk was unphased as she gently tried to shush the short skeleton and continued to talk.

“I understand, and it’s okay, Sans. D-Don’t… Blame. Yourself. It’s not your fault. Sans.” KKKKSSSH… “It’s n-not… _anyone’s_ fault for. For what. Happened. You… Are only guilty. Of caring for P-Pap...pyrus. And for… Me.”

“Y-You’re only d-doing...What you think is right. And. I know. And I understand. How hard and how. Scary. It must feel to. Ever. Have hope in anything again. After we blew it. B-But- despite it all, I’m. So, so grateful to you. And so proud. Of the monster that I met back then. In that snowy forest. All those years ago. Sans.”

KKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH----

“I’m… so grateful. To have gotten. To have been. So lucky. To know you.”

KKKKSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH--

“To have. Gotten. To Travel with you. And. To call you my friend.”

KKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH---

“Never forget how much I love you. Sans. And how much. Papyrus loves you too. Even when he doesn’t show it sometimes. B-because of how. Dangerous. That can be. We… We both. Love you. So. So much. Bonehead.”

“Sa-”KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH

“f...frisk..? frisk, what was...that? i...i didn’t...quite... catch that-” Sans asked with confusion as he struggled to hear her. Bringing the phone ever so closer to his face.

“I….It s-seem…..s…. our t-time to ta...lk…. is at an end.” KKKSSSSSHHHHH--

“w-what?! no...nononono…! please, not yet!! don’t go yet!!” Sans begged, his SOUL feeling like it was being torn into pieces. 

“I’m……….” KKSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH- “Sorry. Sans.” KKKSSSHHHH-- 

“Don’t. Don’t go. Please!! Frisk. I-”

“Don’t...worry. I won’t. Leave again.” KKKKKKKSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- “Even if you can’t see me. I’m always...h….ere…. Sans. I w-will… still be here. Always.”

“FRISK?! FRISK, PLEASE-!!! Can’t you stay...just a little longer? Please- I’ll do anything. Just for a little-”

“W...We’ll al-always-” KSH- “Want. For ‘just a little b-bit… longer.’”

“Frisk. Frisk, please. I don’t... I don’t know if I can do this. Please…!”

“Y...You...can…” KKKKSSSSSSSHHHH- “Y-You. Still have...Papyrus. You’ll be okay. Sans.” KKKKKSSHHHHHHHHHHHH “And...you...have my **determination.** too. So, I will be too. In your SOUL In....” KKSHHHHHHHHHHH “Your memories.”

“FRISK!!! Frisk. Don’t go. Don’t go, Frisk…! Please!!!”

“P-Promise me….” KKKKKSHHHHHHHHHHHH “You’ll be…okay. B... B-Be... good...to each other. And...and g-give...these kids...a shot…” KKKKKKKSHHHHHHHHH “P-Pr...o..mise...me...S-Sans... S-Something...tells me...they might...be able...and succeed...where I have failed…” KKKKKKKKKKSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH---

“Take...care… of yourself, Sans. Because...s…..someone _really_ cares about you.”

“frisk…” Sans muttered. He waited several seconds as If hoping Frisk would keep talking to him. After several minutes of silence, he sobbed even harder now as the phone went completely dead silent. The only sound it gave off was the sound of the phone hanging up and that of his bones rattling through his clothing.

Now he knew he was _really_ in for it now. But he felt too drained to even care. Even if, somehow, some part of him was hoping that by some miracle, perhaps the Boss was running a bit late and wouldn’t notice that Sans was gone. But he knew that wouldn’t be the case. Papyrus was always right on time for everything.

He knew there was no chance he’d be able to live this down for not being at his post in time.

Slowly, the bones surrounding the two children also started to dissipate. Releasing them from their own predicament as Sans magic began to fade, so did his own GODsoul.

“....you heard my sweetheart. get the fuck out of here…” Sans mumbled, his voice sounding harsh and a little raspy. Barely even above a whisper. “and leave me be.”

“M...Mr. Sans…?” Otaku asked, feeling somewhat sorry for the skeleton monster when he was finally let go. He glanced from his sister down to the pitiable skeleton monster, who really looked like he needed a hug right about now, and hesitated. “A-Are you…?”

“what? i thought i toldja to leave, ya ‘heard the lady, now get the fuck out of my sight.” Sans snarled, his eye lights flaring with powerful magic in a warning. As if to say, “fucking test me, and I WILL fucking kill you if you say yet another word, capiche?”

Otaku let out a whimper as Aku grabbed him by the arm. “C-Come on. Let’s just go, okay?” She exclaimed while pulling him along, not letting this opportunity slip by them when Sans let either of them go, at least until they figured things out.

“Y-yeah..sure, sis…” Otaku nodded, following his sister as she led him down the earlier pathway they wanted to go before the incident with Sans had happened.

* * *

Sans continued not to move for several long minutes. Even after the twins had already gone and cleared the room until finally, Sans let out a sigh as he fell backward and onto the hard rocky floor with a FLOP. One of his arms rested against his chest as he once again summoned his GODsoul, so his phalanges could wrap around it tenderly. The other, landing across the top of his skull and only barely covering his eye sockets.

“i’m….so damn tired….” Sans finally said with a yawn as he shut his eyes.

_‘Always be kind. Sometimes, kindness is enough. Sometimes, kindness is all we can give.’_

The words repeated in his head as the tiny skeleton slept. Memories flooded back to him as he remembered the exact moment he started to care for the human once known as “Frisk.”

_ “‘so, i’ve got a little question for ya,’” Sans started. Frisk wiped her greasy hand and mouth on a napkin. Gently folding it and placing it back on the table before turning to face him to show she was listening. “‘do you think...even the worst person can change?’” _

_Sans stared downward at his empty tray, his hands closing into fists on the table. His bones began rattling with nervousness. He was thankful he’d stopped time for this moment and that none of the Monsters would know or even remember this show of weakness when Time was allowed to start again. “that anyone can be a good person if they just tried?’” _

_Frisk was just one more death away from becoming completely blind. By this point, the flowers growing on her body nearly covered her whole face from the multiple times he and Papyrus killed her and forced her to RESET. The brothers had accused her of faking her kindness and that she would much sooner stab one of them in the back._

_But instead, she proved time and again that she never would._

_She was the real deal._

_Sans remembered how her one remaining eye that he could still see through the yellow flowers growing out her skin, how it had closed. Her mouth widened into the most beautiful, genuine, soul-warming smile he’d seen._

_“‘Yes.’” She replied._


	4. Your Best (only) Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiddos finally meets Flowey
> 
> Flowey explains whats been going on in the Underground.

The children ran through the doorway. Their hands in front of them as they ran through the darkness where they saw that pathway was when suddenly both the twins' hands had touched something smooth and felt of wood. Together, the two children begin to push forward as it slides open beneath the stone archway, and the twins stumble inside. 

The children turn around and look behind them to make sure Sans wasn’t chasing them or anything before sighing with relief.

“Phew, I guess that Sans guy did mean it when he said that he’d let us go…” Aku sighed again, looking her brother over. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t hurt that bad or anything. I do kind of feel sorry for that monster, though. He really must have loved that “Frisk” person. I wonder what happened to her?” Otaku explains, a bit sadly. Imagining what it would be like if he’d lost his sister and be left all alone too. He wondered if he’d end up like Sans and end up giving up on everything and finding no motivation to do anything. “He just...seemed so lost. And hurt… I wish we could help him somehow.”

“Oh, I’m sure _that_ guy is going to be just fine. I still wish that I knew what the hell his freaking problem was. He doesn’t deserve your pity, bro. So, look, let’s just-” Akumu looked around the new room they were now in. Her eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness around her as she squinted in the dark.

The room appeared to be mostly empty, except for the faint light that came through the doorway, and inside, she sees a singular flower sitting in the center of the room. The flower appeared to be shaking, but there was no draft in the room. 

On closer inspection, it seemed as if the flower had...a face? The face starts to morph into something else, growing jagged teeth, and his eyes begin to shrink in his head in a desperate act to look scary. “J...Just b-back off, alright?! N-n-not a step...closer!!” 

The flower barked out, raising its leaves upward and raising its vines, but the flower was still shaking. “I-I-I’m w-warning you!!!”

“What the- is..is that a flower?” Otaku asks.

“Yeah, and..it’s talking,” Aku explained, getting closer, but not too close as she didn’t want to freak out the flower too much. 

“Um, hi there, little guy. It’s okay. We won’t hurt you.” Otaku explains, offering a friendly handshake to the flower.“I mean unless you attack us first.” Aku huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “Because we just were. Like, 5 minutes ago by some dickhead skeleton and, let’s just say we’re not in the best of moods to be jerked around right now. Got it?” She growled grumpily, standing protectively next to her brother, who was now kneeling at least a foot or so away from the flower, which looked merely confused.

“Y-you’re...humans? Oh, golly. I thought you were somebody else for a moment there.” The flower explained, relaxing a bit though he still looked a bit cautious. “W-wait, you said you were...attacked? By a skeleton?”

“Yeah. Just now.” Akumu huffed, pointing a thumb behind her towards the previous room while still keeping a close eye on the flower. “I believe he called himself “Sans.” Do you know that jerk or anything?”

“Oh, dear…” The flower said, seeming almost to wilt a bit. “You two must have just fallen than when he was visiting Frisk. I-I’m sorry...he’s not usually like that I-” The flower frowned, looking somewhat concerned as he paused for a moment as if thinking what he should say. “Er, to answer your question. Yes, I do know him. We’re friends. And, I traveled together with him and Frisk once before, back when she was still alive. Golly, I’m sorry that he tried to hurt you. He’s just- sort of...been through a lot. And anyway, it’s not safe for humans to be down here in the Underground.”

“The Underground?” Otaku asks.

“Yeah. That’s where you two are, right now. This is the realm of the Monsters who got banished here after the War.” The flower explained, “Here in the Underground. Lots of Monsters will want to kill you both for your SOUL. They need it to break that Barrier that’s been keeping us all trapped down here.”

“Wh- Is that why Sans wanted to kill us both then?” Akumu asked this time. “I thought that stupid legend was just a myth.”

“Oh no…The legend is VERY much real. Though I guess I can’t blame you both for not knowing since the War happened a long time ago. Way before either of you two were born.” Flowey explained. “And to answer your other question. It’s quite the opposite. Sans...well, he wanted to kill you to _keep_ us all trapped Underground. So that way, neither of you will be able to get to King Asgore and then risk having our mad King take either of your SOULs and wage a second war on humanity again.” 

Flowey shivered a bit, almost in fear, and he looked around the room. As if expecting to find a hidden camera somewhere or something. His voice began to lower an octave to an almost-whisper, “The King is the whole reason the Underground became “Kill or Be Killed,” after the deaths of his son, the Prince, and his adoptive princess. He lost his mind from his grief, and the Underground hasn’t been the same ever since. It used to be much safer, but now… He also guards the only other way out of here. Past New Home is where the Barrier will be. You two will need to pass through that to get back home.”

“Yeah... Since my bro and I can’t exactly climb back out again, where we first fell here. It’s too steep, and the rock walls look corroded, I assume from maybe the rain falling here.” Akumu sighs, facepalming. Her other hand returned to inside her pocket pouch on her hoodie. “Great, so… that’s it then. Either we continue forward and possibly run into even more asshole monsters like that Sans guy, or stay here and probably starve to death. Awesome…” 

Akumu scowled, her hand pulling slightly on her bangs in frustration. _‘Damnit…’_

“W-Wait, hold on, then… what about you? Why aren’t you attacking us? Uh…” Otaku asked, looking a bit puzzled.

“O-Oh!! I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, didn’t I? I-I’m Flowey. Flowey the flower!”

“I’m Otaku, and that’s my sister, Akumu.” Otaku smiled, introducing himself as well.

“Yo.” Aku greeted with a simple nod of her head.

“Nice to meet you two, and now. Um, well, I indeed want to be free as much as all the other monsters down here, but… a friend once taught me, maybe it didn’t always have to be “Kill or Be Killed.” and well, I have no interest in killing either of you. Maybe we can help each other!”

“I can help guide you through the catacombs and the rest of the Underground, especially these Ruins! I kind of know this place like the back of my...well, leaf. I can easily guide you past all the most dangerous traps and puzzles around this place. What do you say?” Flowey suggested, sounding almost hopeful.

Otaku turned towards his sister. “I don’t see why not. What do you say, sis?”

“Yeah, sure.” Akumu agrees then pauses for a moment. “And you _promise_ you won’t betray us or something, Flowey?” Akumu asked, still deciding not to trust the flower after the last incident. She couldn’t tell just how dangerous this place was and if the law indeed was, “Kill or Be Killed.” She figured she had nothing to lose by being careful. 

Just in case.

“O-Of course not! Anyways, look, if I wanted to kill you, don’t you think I would have done so by now?” Flowey snorted, putting the backs of his leaves on his stem. “I wanna help, alright?”

“Y-Yeah, sis. Come on. I think we can trust him. And if there are a lot of puzzles and traps down here, it would help to have someone around that knows the area and the Underground, so we don’t get lost.” Otaku explained.

“Hmph, I hate it when you’re right. Yeah, okay. I already said ‘yes,’ didn’t I? Jeez. You both don’t have to gang up on me. I just want to be sure since the Underground is “Kill or Be Killed,” then...you know.” Aku huffed, still not entirely convinced she could trust Flowey yet. But for now, she decided to let it go.

Otaku smiled and happily hugged her. “Thanks, sis!!”

Flowey smiled, relieved. “Yeah, thanks, Akumu. Now, then, since you two are pretty new down here. And probably very confused, here is a little bit of advice, kids: But from here on out, you two will have to keep up and listen to EVERYTHING I tell you to do. Okay? And be very quiet, because if you don’t….we could...run into HER.”

Flowey started to shiver as he thought about Toriel. Somehow looking even more scared than he did when the twins met him a few minutes ago. “I-If she finds us, I won’t be able to help you out anymore. I’m sorry. That’s just how things are. Please, don’t take it personally.”

“We understand Flowey.” Akumu nodded her body tense. Though she did wonder who this other “her” was. “Is she another monster too?”

“Yeah, she guards these Ruins, and sometimes, she comes by here. Though usually, she doesn’t wander too far into here since Sans started to visit. But, it’s still best if we keep moving and try and hurry. You’ll know who to avoid once we meet her, though hopefully, if luck is on our side…We won’t ever have to run into her. And anyway, we should get a move on! Okay? I’ll go up ahead to the next room, so just head for the door straight ahead.” 

“Wait, Flowey?!” Otaku yelled, wanting to ask Flowey more questions, but just like that, Flowey ducked his head into the ground and was gone. Leaving behind only a small hole and some dirt along the sides like it had been dug up from underground.

“Come on, let’s just go see what’s going on here, huh?” Aku said, grabbing her brother's hand and pulling him along. “I’m sure Flowey will lend more information as we go along with him. And besides, I don’t wanna stick around here either in case that Sans guy decides to try and follow us or anything.” 

Aku clenched her fists at her side, _‘I won’t let him pin us down like that again. I have to protect my brother, no matter what…!’_ Akumu thought as her SOUL began to fill with determination.

Otaku nodded and followed behind his sister, being mindful to stick close to his sister. “Alright.”

* * *

Back in the flower room,’ Sans is reawakened when he sneezes. He opens his eye sockets a bit groggily and rubs his vomer and sniffles a bit. “ugh, someone must be talkin’ ‘bout me....” Sans thinks as he shifts around a bit, trying to get comfortable. “‘s probably boss...ugh.”

He’s still lying on the ground on his back. Sort of in the middle of being both halves awake and half asleep at the same time. Although part of Sans was more leaning towards falling asleep again, his body was simply not letting him anymore, especially when he peeked open an eye socket and saw where he was and was once again reminded of what had happened today.

“‘ALRIGHT YOU WORTHLESS PILE OF SHIT! GET THE FUCK UP ALREADY!!’” Sans imagined hearing Boss yelling at him at this very moment if he were there. Sans let out a sigh.

His mind kept nagging at him that he should get going soon and to stop stalling. To get back to Snowdin and get on over back to his sentry post soon. For the more that he kept stalling, he knew the worse he’ll hear of it from Papyrus. And would probably even be sent to the Torture Chamber for wasting his time. But, Sans still felt far too exhausted to do much of anything. 

At the same time, he also felt completely torn between wanting to continue with his plan to essentially kill every single human that fell into the Underground and get his vengeance on the monsters by continuing to keep everyone trapped here. 

Or to go do as Frisk asked of him and “give the humans a shot” and allow them to continue on their journey. Possibly even protect them as he’d done once with her.

Sans pushed his arm even further down his face, completely covering his eye sockets now as he continued to keep trying to go back to sleep. _‘stupid… tsk, why_ **_should_** _i help them?’_ Sans thought to himself as he shut his eye sockets tightly.

He was trying just to shut his mind off entirely and not think about what the Boss would do to him or what his next plan of action should even be. 

He just wanted to shut everything out. To just not think nor do anything, especially since he knew all too well that the RESETs would most likely start again soon, also, once the twins die and then realize their power if their determination was both more potent than Flowey’s DETERMINATION was. Which in his mind, it most likely would be since now there were **two** humans down here instead of the usual _one_.

Somehow, Sans managed to wrinkle his nasal bone in disgust and anger as he thought about how much worse the RESETs were going to be this time. Would either of them be pacifists like his beloved? Or would they turn out to be assholes and go on some sort of genocidal, mass-murdering spree and kill them all? How would it even work anyway, and would Sans himself even be able to keep track of TWO humans’ timelines once they learned to manipulate it???

Some sick twisted part of Sans mind DID hope that both were there just to finish off the monsters instead… He hoped both of them would “be the Angel of Death,” just like the prophecy talks about, all the way in Waterfall on the ancient plaques. 

Since he still felt that the monsters here were mostly beyond saving at this point. They all had many chances to change and find another way to survive the past seven years, and just because Frisk couldn’t hold out until the Barrier was broken, none of the Monsters even bothered to remember her or anything, so fuck them all….right?

“tsk… it won’t _change_ anything frisk, even if i tried to keep them both safe. we still need just one more soul ta break the barrier so eventually, one of ‘ems gonna hafta die anyways…” Sans tried to argue with himself, his hand squeezing around the GODsoul that floated just outside of his ribs, as the voice in his head told him of an alternate plan. 

It reminded him that he could just as easily walk through the barrier himself and go kill off only one more human and bring the final SOUL back with him underground. Then neither of the twins would have to die, and he wouldn’t even need to interact with them again or protect them. 

“i don’t even know if my godsoul is strong enough to cross! since i can’t reset like you could, what if i also can’t reset when i die too?” Sans questioned, imagining himself coming back, and flowers started to grow out of his bones too, like what happened with his beloved Frisk, whenever she died and came back. Or if he’d return to dust, and that would just be it for him, just like with what happened to the late prince, Asriel, when he absorbed Chara’s soul, and both of them were killed too.

Sans released a sad sigh, opening his eye sockets only a wink, to stare at the floating SOUL spinning ever so slowly in the safety of his boney palms.

“an’ besides honey… wouldn’t it jus’ be better ta keep everybody trapped down here? b’cause the king’s still deadset on tryin’ to get back to th’ surface world and startin’ yet _another fucking war_ with the humans. an’ even if i helped fight too…it probs wouldn’ change nothin’. th’ humans are way stronger than all of us, an’ if another war broke out, fer sure, all monsters would jus’ go extinct. there’d be nothin’ of us left since there’s even less of us now than when the _first_ war started. an’ i’m jus’ one monster. th’ king’s judge or not i dunno if i’d make all that much’a difference... and i’m jus’ so... _goddamn tired_.... of everything. frisk.” Sans sighed again as he once again thought about Frisk and imagining what she would even say to him at this very moment.

‘Always be kind, Sans… Sometimes kindness can heal others…’ He imagines his Frisk telling him. ‘People do not deserve to be hurt. Sometimes, showing kindness is enough…’

“i-i know frisk…” Sans lets out a sad sigh, “‘m trying. but...i’m just so tired. every goddamn day i’m tired.” Sans confesses to himself as he continues to watch his floating SOUL spinning in front of him, ever so slowly. 

“‘m tired of being somebody that i’m not. whether, i’m doin’ shit for th’ boss or bein’ the king’s judge, and pretendin’ i’m totally over you. like your death no longer affects me... ‘m tired of all this ‘kill ‘r be killed’ bullshit. ‘m tired of trying to pretend shit matters, and everythin’ we do will matter when there’s always gonna be someone who has the power to make me live the  _same goddamn day for what feels like years, even though i know time is just th’ timeline repeatin’ over ‘n over again._ ‘m tired of seein’ my brother die again. whether it’s from a past timeline or my memories and in my dreams, as if relivin’ that shit because of the fuckin’ flower wasn’t bad enough.”

“‘m tired of seeing  _you_ die again and again in my arms… and being useless to stop it and save you. or lettin’ th’ boss walk all over me but, yet my stupid ass can’t leave him alone to fend fer himself. b’cause despite how badly he treats me and all the shit... he’s still my little brother. an’ he’s still my responsibility.”

“an’ i know he still cares. that’s probably the scariest part abou’ all this shit. and i have the strongest fuckin’ feelin’ that asgores been startin’ to catch on and… i’m just so tired, frisk…”

Sans let out a sigh, still refusing to move. He shut his eye sockets closed tightly, shutting out the light of the sun and the world around him. Growling with frustration when he still couldn’t catch a nap as he wanted. “it won’t change anything. they’re not like you, frisk. you were special. you were…”

Sans clenched his fist, the one that was draped right over his skull, his other hand grasping tight around his GODsoul, but not enough to shatter it as he felt another tear threatening to fall again.

“you...were different. we were supposed to save the underground together. damnit…!” Sans cursed, once again. “you weren’t...supposed to _die_ like that…! we were supposed to make it out of here together, and… we could ‘ave… maybe been together. jus’ you ‘n me. and be ‘appy.” Sans felt his jaw tighten, letting the tears roll down the sides of his skull and stain the sleeve of his arm, still resting over his face. “stars, what am i even saying? maybe i really ‘ave lost it….” Sans whispered, feeling the corners of his jaw droop down a bit as he shut his eye sockets while allowing the tears to fall. 

His mind became plagued with familiar, happier memories of the past. 

* * *

_“Y….y-you…!!” Frisk coughed out. She startled a bit as she tried to shove the skeleton away once her feet had found stable ground again after the teleport._

_Sans grabs the sleeve of her other arm to steady them as one of her arms was too busy in making sure not to drop Flowey in his little boot vase, pressed against her body._

_"ya a’ight there, sweetheart?"_

_Frisk pulls away from him quickly, gasping and cringing when she does so._

_Sans lets her go immediately and holds up his hands to show her he meant no harm, “whoah, whoa. easy there." _

_Frisk felt nausea all over, and she hadn’t hyperventilated in a long time. She thought she was_ finally _doing so well on her own and that perhaps, things could ultimately have been going her way. But once again, she found herself right back to having her chest feeling way too tight and once again like she couldn’t breathe. She forced herself to take short, even breaths when she spoke also. "Y-you're… taking me… to King Asgore?”_

_Flowey extends a few vines towards Sans, ready to defend if need be. Even summoning out a few friendliness pellets and glaring at the skeleton as if telling him to “back off.”_

_The skeleton spares the flower a glance but looks back into Frisk's only visible eye._

_ “well about tha’. heh. wouldja believe me if i said that i lied to my brother, honey?” he asks, shrugging his shoulders while giving her a playful wink. _

_Frisk frowns in response, opening her mouth in question. “Why –”_

_ "he was going to kill ya," Sans explains. “i had ta make use of what i had and get ya outta there. and well, lying seemed like the best option. don't think he's going to chase us now, at least. except fer, if he wants ta dust me once he figures it out anyways.” He laughs, “i mean, i always reckoned he's wanted to do that fer quite sometime now, but well, even with just 1hp. i don't go down easy." _

_"You’re unbelievable. You know that bonehead?" Flowey breathes, looking exasperated._

_Frisk frowns further, though there was a hint of confusion on her expression. “You..." She begins to eye him warily. Looking at his held-up hands and the playful, the much friendlier expression on his face. “You're…. helping me?”_

_"well...yeah.” Sans shrugged once more, his playful expression now turning to that of pure sincerity. “you told me that you believed that everyone could be a good person, right?” Sans adopts a slightly more severe yet sheepish expression as he scratches the back of his skull, “i'm trying." _

_Slowly, he starts to lower his hands and holds one out in front of her._

_Frisk eyes it warily. And hesitates for a moment._

_There is a flower right beside Frisk's eye, and she knew she was just one more death away from being completely blind. By that point, she’d be at the mercy of anyone she came across. And getting through the rest of the Underground could be near impossible by that point. And that, either way, whether she decided to trust Sans and pray he won’t kill her again or simply ignored him and went off on her own was a risk._

_It's another minute or two until slowly, she holds her left hand out as well and puts it in Sans' own._

_He wraps his bony fingers around her flower-covered ones, and together, they begin walking towards what looks to be a waterfall._

_Frisk startles momentarily at the realization that she wasn’t dead yet. Nor was she in the middle of dying either. She finally, finally even got past Papyrus_ and _gained a new ally along the way._

_She smiled to herself and Sans. The thought filled her with determination._

* * *

_ ‘it’s just… how am i supposed to let you go? no one… no one… ever treated me the way that you did. carin’ for my wimpy ass, an’ even cried over me like you did… you were different. how’m i supposed to let you go? it’s not fair…’ _ Sans thought to himself as he felt his crying starting to escalate. Even as he told himself not to, the tears just wouldn’t stop, and he didn’t have the energy to try and wipe them away either.

He just wanted to be with her again, to see his sweetheart also. And tell her how sorry he was for letting her die and for being such a failure. He even found himself cursing his weak stats, wishing how he could have been stronger and gotten Asgore to weaken sooner than maybe he could have saved Frisk way sooner.

_ ‘if only i’d used one o’ my shortcuts to take you to that damn barrier… if only-’_

* * *

_“what the fuck's yer deal, huh?” Sans asks, "what's with the sugary-sweet schtick you've got going on? ya think we’re all idiots or somethin’ is that it?!” _

_Frisk frowns further in confusion and begins hand signing to him, asking what did he mean._

_ “do ya think that ya can just get out of ‘ere by being good to everyone?” Several razor-sharp bones are materializing out of thin air now right behind Sans. _

_Frisk takes a step backward out of fear, but blue magic starts to wrap itself around her ankles. Quickly working its way up her body and past her elbows until it reached her SOUL floating just outside near the center of her chest. Her SOUL is turned blue once the magic touches its red surface, and Sans raises an arm slowly until Frisk is lifted into the air by the now-blue glowing organ. Frisk begins to panic, trying to find something to hold onto, and Flowey is dropped onto the snow from several feet._

_“Frisk!" Flowey screams when the flower lands in the powdery white on its face and pushes itself up with its leaves._

_Frisk flails around uselessly, continuing to drift upward even now. She looks down at the skeleton below her. She was now at a staggering 20 feet high up into the air, and her head was nearly touching one of the stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the Underground._

_"or are ya perhaps, just_ **_trying_ ** _ to let us think you're good?” Sans asks, his voice sounding harsh and cold. And not at all like the pun-making goofball she started to associate him as in the previous timeline, “and then, at the very last moment, once we all gave ya our trust and our backs are turned, you will kill us when we're most vulnerable?” _

_"H-Help! S-Someone!! Please!!!” Frisk tips herself forward and reaches down to Flowey._

_Chara watches from nearby helplessly, as the two are now held at the mercy of the skeleton monster and narrates with a heavy heart, *But nobody came. _

_Sans raises his other hand, and Flowey is coated in the same blue magic in one second and thrown onto the trunk of a nearby pine tree the next. Flowey lets out a painful sounding “GACK!!” and his HP drops immediately down to 0, killing the flower instantly._

_Frisk gasps out in horror, and her eyes widen in shock as she stares down at the battered plant lying in the snow, motionless “Flowey!”_

_“well, let me tell ya, somethin’ kid, because if that's really what yer aiming for, then that's not going to work,” Sans moves his hand again, and the bones behind him begin to spin and pose themselves now aiming towards Frisk. "and if it's the other way around; didn't anybody ever tell ya? in this world,” _

_The bones all fly towards the human._

_Frisk screws their eyes shut and mentally braces herself for the incoming pain._

_"It's kill or be killed.”_

* * *

“if only i’d neva doubted ya, not even fer an instant.” Sans opened his sockets again, staring at the dark abyss of the cave ceiling, his eye sockets felt puffy and moist, and he knew if he certainly didn’t already look like a mess earlier, he did now. “why? why am i such a fucking idiot…? i swear…”

Sans slowly began to push himself off the ground, leaning back on his hands as he looked straight ahead with a solemn expression.

“i know ya told me t’ give those kids a shot, and somehow y’ always have the best hopes that anyone can change and yer optimistic an’ shit…” Sans slowly sits up once he’d calmed down some, looking somewhat resigned. “but it’s not that easy… ‘m not like you, frisk. i don’t believe that people can change so easily. even _if_ i do have yer soul an’ determination too, i just can’t be anythin’ like you.”

Sans shrugged, chuckling to himself, “heh, maybe that’s why i’m so perfect fer bein’ the judge, or maybe i’ve jus’ been th’ judge fer too long it’s hard fer me not ta have doubts about people’s characters… either way, i’m sorry honey… but, i know it’s yer last wish or whatever but… if _you_ couldn’t change the king’s mind. i just can’t risk it. i can’t risk the king just eliminating the rest of the monsters or sending us back into the underground. i’m sorry…”

Sans turned in the direction of where the twins went while he searched his pocket for his phone. Pulling it out, he finally noticed that it had been bombarded with texts from Papyrus as there were at least 20 notifications all within 5 minutes, wondering where the hell he was and to get back to him.

**Today 10:22 AM**

-calm down, boss, everythin’s fuckin’ great—no need to shit a brick yeesh. 

**Today 10:23 AM**

SANS!! YOU ARE TO COME STRAIGHT BACK TO SNOWDIN FOREST AND EXPLAIN YOURSELF FOR WHY THE HELL WEREN’T YOU AT YOUR POST!! AND IT BETTER BE A GOOD REASON TOO, YOU LAZYFUCK!!!-

**Today 10:24 AM**

-alrigh’ alrigh’ boss, i’m comin’ back, throw me a bone ev’ry once in a while. i’m comin’

Sans shut his phone, returning it to his pocket. _‘better get this shit over with. guess there’s no need to try and come up with an excuse… he’d prob’ly figure it out once he sees me.’_ Sans sighed, deciding not to waste any more time. He takes a step forward and snaps his fingers, disappearing in a flash of red magic. 

The next instant, he reappears back on the Ruins’ other side and into an icy, snow-covered forest. Sans returns his hands to his pockets and starts to walk forward, keeping his face and skull low, staring at the ground in the hopes that Papyrus won’t notice the red tear streaks on his cheekbones and ask too many questions. He begins following the purposely made trail leading to the wooden bridge and gate, which separated Snowdin Forest from his sentry post. And where he could also see his brother standing in front of.

“SANS!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! WHY WEREN’T YOU AT YOUR POST WHEN I CAME BACK FROM UNDYNE’S PLACE?!” Papyrus shouted, his arms were crossed over his chest, and he was tapping the toes of his boot on the ground as he glared down at the shorter skeleton. 

Sans risked a glance upwards, only slightly, and saw that it seemed, for now, that they were alone. He began to fidget a bit, sweat dripping off his skull as he spoke, keeping his voice as low as ever. “er, hi boss… i was just, uh…”

“SANS…. LOOK AT ME, WHEN WE ARE SPEAKING.” Papyrus demands, his eyes squinting and brows lowering. He began to raise his magic the slightest amount, just enough to catch Sans’s attention and to show he wasn’t playing around. “AND TELL ME WHERE. WERE. YOU?”

Sans gave a soft wince, cringing in his stead as he immediately turned his face up, catching Papyrus’s eyes but only for a moment before he’d glanced back down. And it was at that exact moment that Paps had seen it. The dried blotches on Sans cheekbones, and how the lower part of eye sockets was puffy and almost swollen in appearance, and Papyrus’ eye sockets widened in alarm as he took in the state of his brother.

He honestly did look like such a wreck, like he’d been crying for quite some time. Sans immediately shot his head back down. Rocking back and forth, but only slightly. His shoulders were hunched forward, sweat appearing on the top of his skull, and his body seemed to be shaking as Sans thought of the following words to say before seemingly admitting defeat. He began to mumble while still not looking directly over at Papyrus and keeping his gaze low. “sigh… okay, look… i-i went… to see ‘er again...okay? ‘m sorry i wasn’t ‘ere before ya got back… i just… ‘m sorry....” 

Papyrus seemed to be at a loss for words as he stared down at his older sibling. _ ‘SO HE HAD BEEN CRYING… AND I WASN'T JUST SEEING THINGS.’ _ He thought to himself as he weighed his options. He scanned the area, all while keeping his guard up. As if considering to have his talk with Sans now, but he knew it might be best to take Sans home with him and deal with his brother there, away from any eavesdroppers or possibly one who might interrupt the two of them and accidentally hear in on their conversation.

“SANS YOU KNOW FULL WELL HOW I’VE TOLD YOU TIME AND AGAIN TO STAY AWAY FROM THAT AREA! IT IS FORBIDDEN!” Papyrus snapped out, being extremely careful to hide the concern in his voice. And to sound as authoritative as possible and without mercy. “SO, SINCE YOU HAVE DISOBEYED DIRECT ORDERS FROM YOURS TRULY AND FAILED TO MEET THE STANDARD MEET UP TIME, YOU WILL HAVE TO COME BACK TO ME TO THE CASTLE WHERE I WILL DISCUSS YOUR PUNISHMENT! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!”

“w-? b-but...boss- i,” Sans stammered out, his eye sockets widening as he tried to argue with him before seeing the expression of sympathy cross his brother’s face but only for an instant. And he realized Papyrus’s true intentions beneath the iron, ice-cold mask he’d been wearing out here in the open. It made Sans want to shut up almost immediately. Instead, he once more reverted to his much more submissive stature, hunching his shoulders as he let out a mumbled, “yes boss… whatever ya say…”

“HMPH.” Was all Papyrus uttered out as he began to lead the charge back into Snowdin Town. 

  
  



	5. Know Your Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans gets interrogated more or less about his grief over losing Frisk.
> 
> And we finally learn the reason WHY Sans keeps calling Papyrus his "Boss" instead of brother. And how Paps became a Royal Guard Member.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOME MAJOR, MAJOR WARNINGS ABOUT THIS CHAPTER FOR BASICALLY ALL OF THE ABOVE IN THE TAGS!!! (i.e broken bones, manhandling, blood etc.)  
> The Author had WAY too much fun writing this chapter, even though this chapter was ALSO simultaneously the most painful to write as well, it's also single handedly one of the most important ones so far.
> 
> Note:// the flashback section of this chapter occurs 4 days after Flowey escaped the True Lab and found out he had the RESET power. and around 4 days BEFORE flowerfell technically begins/4 days before Frisk falls into the Underground. (so 3 days for Sans to heal and then 1 day to sorta get used to calling Paps boss and being his underling and shit-) And technically all of the RESETs Flowey was doing + Gaster being yeeted took place on the same day but because there were SO many RESETs, to Flowey it felt like "years" had passed. But- yeah. Then 7 days passes before Frisk fell into the Underground. (ALSO NOTE: the "8 days theory" was based off a tumblr post which im p much claiming as canon, because timelines!! and- yeah. it kinda makes sense tbh.)
> 
> ((My flowey is a bit of a mix between the kind Underfell version and kind of the dickhead that he is in canon lol. And the Flowey Frisk meets was still kind of a asshole but she was able to get him to be a bit kinder/be more remoreseful even if he still can't exactly feel emotions due to a lack of a SOUL but yeah-))
> 
> Anyways- enjoy the read...i guess??? And your welcome<3 C:

The skeleton brothers had finally entered the town of Snowdin. They continued to walk past the UN-welcome to Snowdin!! Banner hung between two poles at the very entrance to the small, snowy, decrepit, deserted town.

Its residents had moved from their homes and now live within the massive stone castle once Sans and Papyrus’ home. The house had long since been renovated into an enormous palace that stood to be about 3 or 4 stories high and went even lower down in the Underground, where the dungeons were buried deep below ground than where the Monsters resided.

The dungeons’ layout continues, even just below the brother’s feet, where they stood at the very edge of where the Town began before walking. The entire dungeon area was built like a maze, with countless or hundreds of Cells below ground. The rest of the castle’s interior was made to be maze-like and even more confusing than the dungeons. 

The rooms made to hold the Royal Guard were both gothic and blocky, yet strong, remote, and massive yet only barely hospitable. It is made for its only purpose as a sort of ‘training grounds’ for each of the Guard to train and harness their magic. The walls were made to withstand any kind of attack without damage to the entire area as a whole.

The main hall and rooms were for all the former Snowdin residents and servants that lived there under the very watchful eye of Captain Papyrus of the Royal Guard and his henchman, Sans.

The castle itself was humongous, with high and very well-fortified stone walls surrounding the main building. On top of all the traps and puzzles littered around the courtyard past the vast stone walls, they were also heavily guarded around the clock by all of the Royal Guard members, minus the Dog Marriage usually kept guard around the main entrance into the building itself.

The castle was utterly gothic-like in its build. It was dark and lofty, yet just as equally strong and made to be unconquerable, built with tall towers that reached the very ceiling of the whole Underground. The buildings themselves overlooked ALL of Snowdin. Indeed, once inside, you could even just see the very edges of where the Waterfall marsh environment ended and where Hotland began. 

It was awe-inspiring. To think that the brothers managed to somehow get the resources necessary to build this whole thing by hand practically and have it all finished within just 7 years.

Papyrus approached the massive wooden doors now opened to let the brothers inside by both Dogamy and Dogaressa. “Master, you’ve finally returned!” Dogamy greeted before bowing to their current Captain of the Royal Guard. 

“(Hello Master!)” greeted Dogaressa.

“HELLO, DOGAMY AND DOGARESSA! YES, I HAVE INDEED RETURNED ALONG WITH MY SNIVELLING WIMP OF A BROTHER. SEE TO IT THAT NEITHER OF US ARE DISTURBED ON THE UPPER FLOORS! I DON’T WANT ANYONE TO INTERRUPT US WHILE I DECIDE ON WHAT TO DO WITH THIS PATHETIC WHELP. IS THAT CLEAR?!” Papyrus demanded, as Sans couldn’t help but flinch at the harsh wording, even if he knew that Papyrus was still only pretending to be cruel. The concerned and sympathetic expression that had flashed across his brother's face was still fresh in his mind.

Sans continued keeping his head low, making himself as small as possible in the hopes that both hounds would not notice the apparently dried tear streaks on his face or how puffy and swollen his eye sockets were.

“Yes, commander!!” barked Dogamy.

“(Yes commander!!)” Dogaressa barked out as well. She and her husband saluted the tall, lanky skeleton before leaving to head to the communications room, which was located next door to the main entrance, and quickly send the message to all the others.

Papyrus waited a moment to ensure his message was successfully sent to all of the residents living inside the castle over the intercom and out through the speakers posted around the various hallways and ceiling hidden within the castle. Ensuring that both he and his brother wouldn’t be interrupted, he turns his attention back to Sans.

“COME ALONG, SANS. DON’T WASTE ANYMORE OF MY TIME THAN YOU’VE ALREADY DONE!!” Papyrus cautioned, all while roughly pulling Sans along and practically manhandling the shorter skeleton who dwarfed him.

Sans eye sockets widen, and he nearly trips over one of his own shoelaces on his red sneakers that were left untied. “b-boss! wait!”

Sans yelps out, his arms instinctively moving forwards to catch his fall. He narrowly avoids falling on his face when his scarf and necklace catch thanks to Boss holding them tight, and the cloth and rope get stuck on the bottom of his mandible. This ends up with the Boss half strangling the tiny skeleton when Papyrus pulls Sans forward before realizing Sans had tripped.

Papyrus flinches when he hears his brother behind him choking. There’s a pause as he allows Sans to regain his footing and loosen the necklace and scarf from his neck bone. 

Sans gives him a questioning look when he notices the worried expression cross the Boss’s face flash there for another second. Sans gives his brother the most subtle nods, letting Papyrus know he was alright and that he hadn’t hurt him.

Encouraged by this, Papyrus continues onward to not allow anyone to notice how worried he’d been for his brother. He made sure to only let Sans just barely keep up with his brother as Papyrus led him up towards the stairs and past the NOT-So-Nicecream Guy Rabbit Monster and Bonnie, who both stood in waiting and on high-alert. Together, they guarded the way up to the center-most tower, leading to both of the brother’s bedrooms. 

The tower itself was dark, aside from the occasional candlelight, as the stairs curved up and around a central pillar. 

The silence between the brothers was cold, tense, and bone-chilling. 

Papyrus refused to allow his guard down and show his genuine concern for his older brother even long since they’d entered the inside of the tower. He purposely kept ignoring Sans and keeping himself and his expression perfectly stoic and somewhat angry until they got to the top. Papyrus couldn’t risk slipping up and reveal his real emotions until he knew for sure they’d be safe. After all, no matter how tightly Papyrus ran his people or how severe his punishments were, not even he could control the entire population of about 50 monsters living in his castle from both Snowdin Town and in the Forest just outside of the Town.

Sans, in the meanwhile, was also left on high alert, but for various reasons. He knew Boss would be upset with him. After all, Sans had been gone for an additional half-hour past the 2 hours he’d given himself to go visit Frisk’s grave. The silence between them was now starting to get to Sans and made him feel jumpy.

It felt as if hours were ticking by, even though it's only been a few seconds since the two brothers arrived at their home and began climbing higher and higher up the stairway, leading to each of their own rooms.

A part of Sans hoped that this wouldn’t take very long. As he wanted to go back to the Ruins and check on the twin’s progress through there, hoping to stop them before either of them could meet up with Toriel. He knew she’d probably be able to handle herself. However, he still couldn’t help but worry for his ‘friend just beyond the door’s safety anyways.

“heh...this place sure’s seen better days, huh boss?” Sans asked, a little nervously. He felt Papyrus hold on him seem to lessen the higher and closer they got to each of their rooms, and he forced himself to look up and face his brother’s back a little bit more fully. “l-look, ‘m fine, see? y’ don’ gotta worry ‘bout nothin’ ‘bout me. i swear…!”

Still, Papyrus said nothing to Sans. He didn’t want to risk anyone eavesdropping on them, even if it was on just small talk until they got safely inside. Sans waited a moment as he hunched up his shoulders again. He tried once more to break the silence and get his brother to be just a little bit more at ease, “er, oh ye! i fergot to ask ya, how was yer trip to undyne’s? any news how ‘er rebellions doin’ an’ all?”

"ARE YOU ATTEMPTING TO MAKE SMALL TALK WITH ME?" Papyrus asked as he turned his head to pear over his shoulder and stared down at the shorter skeleton directly behind him. 

Sans thought he sensed a hint of teasing amusement. 

Papyrus took a glance around the tower, ensuring no cameras had been placed anywhere and took the extra precaution to lower his voice to an almost-whisper as well. Not wanting to risk the implications that Alphys nor Asgore could possibly be listening in on their conversation. “And If You Truly Must Know… It Went Fairly Well. I Got To Her Headquarters Safe And Sound. Although One Of The Temmies Did Attempt To Bite My Ankle Off. She Wanted To Know What The Royal Guards Been Up To And If I Could Give Her Any Insider Information About The King.”

“If I Learned Anything New And Any Secrets About Him Or His Weaknesses. I Told Her I Haven’t Learned Anything She Didn’t Already Know. Then She Wanted To Know If Whether Or Not, He’d Been Forcing Me To Do Anything Dangerous And To Check On My Socket.”

“She Also Wanted To Know About Snowdin’s Overall Status And If The King Had Also Been Attacking Us As Well. She Apologized If We Had Been, And For Starting Up Trouble, Even Though I Told Her We Were All Relatively Safe.” Papyrus then waved a hand in the air, “So On, And So Forth. Etc. Etc. She Did However, Asked Me Again If You Or I Would Be Interested Into Joining Her.”

“heh, ‘course she did…” Sans grinned as he slid his hands into his pockets once his brother had released him entirely. Sans felt another pang of regret, and yet, pride at the same time as well. 

Pride, in that Undyne, was still so dedicated to her cause and so determined to take down the King. Sans didn’t admit it out loud, but part of him felt glad and grateful that Undyne was still trying to look out for them both and that she always kept up to date with them to make sure they were both doing alright. Not even Sans could deny that she didn’t have a heart of gold when it counted. And he was glad that when it came to it, at least there was one monster they could always rely on.

Sans had maybe half a mind to even include Undyne in his very, VERY small list of people he probably regretted the most in helping keep trapped down there with his plan. Still, he reminded himself that overall it would be for the best for all. And that he couldn’t let anything nor anyone stops him from making sure no human got to King Asgore.

They got to the platform leading off the stairs and down a short hallway which led to both the brothers’ bedrooms, and continued walking.

“so, what’dja say? that ya’ll solve things on yer own and take him down from within an’ shit like ya said ya would 7 years ago?” Sans muttered out, mentally flinching at his own boldness as he semi-teased his brother. Though Papyrus didn’t seem to mind nor pay his comment much attention.

Papyrus seemed to ignore Sans’s snarky remark. The two continued to walk until they reached the small fork in the hall, and Paps immediately turned towards the room on the right. Simply marked “PAPYRUS” in perfect Papyrus font handwriting. He begins to remove his keys from his skinny black jeans’ back pocket as he begins to unlock and remove each and every one of the 20 or so locks on his bedroom door.

“...don’tcha think that's goin’ a bit overboard, boss?” Sans continued, having nothing much better to do other than stand around and watch his bro removing his own handiwork, “i mean, who the hell’d be able ta even find ya room in this massive labyrinth of a castle in the first place anyway? they’d have ta either be really smart, or real fuckin’ stupid to first avoid gettin’ detected by th’ hounds, and get past all ya puzzles ‘n shit.”

“th’ dungeons alone could keep a guy trapped down there fer weeks an’ if that ain’t bad enough, they’d also get jus’ as lost in th’ rest of th’ castle fer sure before they even find this _exact_ tower leadin’ up ‘ere.” Sans shrugged. “jus’ saying, i think ya got enough locks on that thing ‘ts all boss.”

“YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL, SANS.” Papyrus simply stated as he got to the last couple of locks now within minutes, he also pushed a hidden button right beside the knob. A low beeping sound was heard on the other end of the door, signaling the additional security measures had been turned off. Finally, the door was unlocked and opened. “A GUARD MUST ALWAYS BE CAREFUL, AND BE PREPARED AT ALL COSTS. NOW, GET INSIDE.”

“ye, ye boss. y’told me tha’ already. i-i’m jus’ sayin’ is all. i think yer bein’ a little  _too_ careful fer no fuckin’ reason at all. no one in their right minds would eva jus’ barge inta the captains’ quarters ‘n all.” 

Sans again mentally flinches, not at all failing to catch the slight shift in Papyrus’s tone of voice as he walks inside Papyrus’s room, “i mean, ya practic’lly got king _ass_ hole on speed dial. ya can jus’ call ‘im if anyone’s fuckin’ with ya an’ just-” 

Sans turned around slowly, the second he reached the center of the room when he hears that Papyrus had followed him in and locked the door. “jus’ wipe them off the face of the Underground without no one the wiser, o-or ev’n end ‘em yerself without anyone knowing. it must be nice to be the king’s pet. heh… i mean, yer probably only the second monster with the most lv besides th’ king. y’ don’t gotta worry ‘bout nothing.”

“BUT I _DO_ WORRY…” Papyrus finally admitted as he continued to stare at the door even after he already locked it. 

Sans flinches at this, and Paps seems to notice this reaction from the slightest change in the magic near him, but he continues, “I WORRY… ALL THE TIME WHENEVER I SEE YOU LIKE THIS WHEN I SEE YOU SUFFERING, AND I CAN’T HELP YOU WITHOUT RISKING PUTTING MYSELF OR YOU IN EVEN MORE DANGER. OR-OR RISKING SOMEONE HURTING _YOU_ TO GET TO **ME.** TO GET REVENGE ON ME FOR SOMETHING THAT I DID AS A GUARD OR BECAUSE THE KING TOLD ME TO DO IT. AND THEN I WORRY WHEN I'M FORCED TO ACT CRUEL TO YOU, THAT ONE DAY, I MIGHT ACCIDENTALLY _ACTUALLY_ HURT YOU WHEN I’M ONLY TRYING TO KEEP THE OTHERS CONVINCED THAT YOU DON’T MATTER TO ME. BUT I **DO** WORRY… SANS… WHAT’S GOING ON WITH YOU?”

“boss- come on-” Sans noticed how Papyrus’s hands started to shake, and Paps had suddenly turned on his heel now to face him. Sans let out a gasp when he also began to notice how much his brother’s expression had softened. And that was when Sans automatically knew that the Papyrus in front of him was no longer the ‘Royal Guard Papyrus’ that he was outside this door 10 seconds ago.

He was now just his brother again.

The same Paps Sans had tried to raise and protect alone before his little bro had changed from the good little monster he once was to the cruel, heartless, formidable member of the Royal Guard he was today. Sans still remembered it clearly, the day it started when Papyrus had laid witness to his best friend Undyne having her eye torn out of her body by the mad King.

It was that day that Papyrus had finally come to realize _precisely_ how cruel this world was. When Papyrus had been there to witness his best friend, Undyne, almost killed directly in front of him. Punished for speaking out of turn and for trying to fight and “change” this awful world that they lived in. 

“b-bro… come on. i-” Sans stammered out, “i’m-”

“SANS… PLEASE. I KNOW YOU REMOVED THE EXTRA LOCKS I TRIED TO PUT ON YOUR DOOR AS WELL, I KNOW THAT SOMETHING’S WRONG! I- **YOU’RE** NOT CAREFUL ENOUGH!! YOU ONLY HAVE 1HP! ANYONE COULD JUST BREAK INTO YOUR ROOM AND-!!” Papyrus stopped himself from just blurting about how anyone could dust him. He was shaking even more now at this point. And he no longer looked like the ‘proud, relentless killer’ that Sans knew he could be when out in public, in front of the masses.

And it made Sans feel even more guilty at how much he had been lying and hiding from his brother that he no longer had “just 1HP.” Even though it still technically didn’t make that much of a difference, and he could always be one-shot killed, from practically everyone with LV and had just the right amount of ‘intention to kill.’ But Sans still didn’t enjoy seeing his brother get like this.

It was times like these that some part of him _wanted_ the ‘Great and Terrible Papyrus,’ scourge of the Royal Guard, to come back again. He yearned for that version of Papyrus instead, though Sans didn’t like this version. He knew he could count on him to remain strong and face danger head-on at least. 

“I CAN’T PROTECT YOU WHEN YOU GO TO THOSE RUINS!! I CAN’T FOLLOW YOU DOWN OVER THERE, PAST THAT DOOR AND-!! AND MAKE SURE YOU’RE OKAY… WHY DO YOU EVEN GO THERE ALL THE TIME?! DON’T YOU EVEN CARE?! DON’T YOU- DO YOU ENJOY MAKING ME WORRY ABOUT YOU ALL THE TIME?! IS THIS YOUR WAY OF PUNISHING ME?!”

“n-no, of course not, bro! i-” Sans outstretched one of his arms automatically and is just about to run over to him and hug him. To comfort Papyrus, but he stops himself when Sans remembers that he can’t get too close, or else there was a possibility that Papyrus might catch a glimpse of his SOUL that was only barely hidden by the 4 layers of clothes that he had on. He knew it was enough to hide the glow, but he still couldn’t risk it.

He didn’t want Papyrus to catch on.

“paps...i- i’m sorry.”

“THEN TELL ME WHAT’S WRONG? WHY DO YOU ALWAYS GO THERE- WHY… YOU MENTIONED YOU WENT TO SEE ‘HER’ AGAIN, WHO? THE HUMAN?” Paps asked, “THE HUMAN YOU… BETRAYED YOUR OWN RACE FOR TO HELP?!”

“she wasn’t…” Sans growled in anger. His left eye socket began to flare powerfully with magic in response for but a moment. Sans sockets widened, and he made an audible gasp, however, and he quickly facepalmed and managed to get the hang of his power again, “she. wasn’t. **Just** a human. look, just-… even if i told you. it won’t matter. and even if it **does** matter, you won’t even understand-”

“WHAT WON’T I UNDERSTAND?! I’LL _UNDERSTAND_ IF YOU JUST TELL ME!!” Papyrus demanded. Glowering down at Sans for being so stubborn, his jaw was clenched and teeth bared.

“no. no, you won’t- so just drop it, okay?” Sans paled, his body trembling a little, as he once more felt even smaller than usual in the face of Papyrus’s powerful LV and magic. Sans felt himself sweating through his clothing, and he pulled his hands out of his pockets, showing his palms to his brother that he meant him no harm. 

Sans started to take a step back, _so_ tempted to just teleport out of the room, but Paps seemed to sense this, grabbing him by his shirt’s collar to hold Sans in place.

“SANS, DON’T. LEAVE. PLEASE!! YOU’RE MY BROTHER. AND I KNOW YOUR HURTING INSIDE, AND I WANT TO HELP YOU.” Papyrus replied, shaking Sans a bit. Tear prickled at the corners of Papyrus eye sockets, and he forced himself to take a breath and calm down. Realizing screaming at Sans to speak clearly wasn’t helping.

Sans gritted his teeth. His sockets and face shadowing as he began to pry Papyrus’ arms off of him in retaliation. "oh, **now** ya consider me yer brother, huh?"

"SANS!!! THAT'S NOT...!" Papyrus tried. Now it was his own turn to be confused. _ 'WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS SANS TALKING ABOUT? I ONLY SAY HE ISN'T MY BROTHER TO KEEP EVERYONE BELIEVING. I HAVE NO WEAKNESSES TO ENSURE SANS SAFETY. WHAT THE FUCK IS HE TALKING ABOUT?'_

“you’d help me...if you just dropped this whole _entire_ conversation. okay?” Sans began to snap out, his own brows lowering. And it was now time for Sans to be the one who was clearly upset and angry, “come on, whatever happened to the ‘great and terrible’ papyrus, huh?”

Sans then immediately changed his expression to one feigning amusing as he shrugged and gave Papyrus a playful wink, “i’m jus’ an underling to ya, so what does it ev’n matta?” Sans began to think, quickly pointing an accusatory finger at Paps as he pressed the very tip of his phalanges into Papyrus chest. “don’t… i don’t know- you have like- 10 billion things to do? reporting to the king, how about you work on your puzzles instead? i know you probably want to go back to recalibrating them after the most recent snowfall yesterday. gotta make sure they’re up to working order an’ shit right?”

“SANS-” Papyrus tried once more, trying to catch Sans’s attention. 

“c’mon, boss. fuggedaboutit.” Sans continued to speak over Papyrus, even as he tried to interrupt Sans’s train of thought. 

“SANS-!!” Papyrus spoke out again, this time just a bit louder somehow, despite the fact he _already_ screams every word he says practically. 

He wanted Sans to stop. He hated it when Sans got like this whenever something terrible was happening. Sans had such an annoying habit of acting like everything was acceptable, and nothing was wrong. And _always faking it with a smile._

Although, sure, Sans face was _always_ smiling. Due to being a skeleton monster, his expression rarely ever changed. He was just born like that, but still. It was all constantly in a brave effort to keep Papyrus safe. “SANS- PLEASE…!!”

“i’m a **_nobody_ ** compared to you. ya work directly fer the king. even with my 5 or… 6 jobs, i’m always late to an’ shit... that’s nothing compared to you. ya even said it yerself. right? tha’ i should ‘know my place?’ hehehehe….” Sans chuckled, his smile widening slightly as tears once again began to appear out of his swollen eye sockets. Though they weren’t falling yet.

“SANS! STOP-” 

Papyrus’s eye sockets widened as he realized what Sans was talking about on that horrifying day; their relationship with each other was changed forever. Papyrus stared down at Sans as he held him in place in his arms with a shocked expression.

Sans didn’t even seem to flinch at this, wholly enthralled now in the moment as he continued to keep going.

“i’m jus’ a lil runt, 1hp **_weak_ ** monster who just so happens to be related to **you** \- but...i get it, ya know? i’m nothing compared to ya… ya made something of yerself, unlike me.” Sans expression was still dark as he stared off in the distance. His face was clear of anything as he kept talking, “yer captain of the royal guard, with 14lv. yer the strong, brave, and scary one. The one who shows no mercy, not even to his own brother. heh.”

It was that exact wording when recollection and recognition had flashed across Papyrus’s face. And he was reminded once again of the darkest moment for both of the brothers. It was the day when Papyrus had finally been accepted into the Royal Guard and was made the 2nd lieutenant alongside Undyne to lead the Guard.

* * *

_It was a quiet day as usual in the town of Snowdin. The Royal Guards were all off doing their sentry duties in Snowdin Forest._

_For the brothers, however. The tension was even higher than usual. Papyrus was off in the living room, holding his head in his hands in worry. He racked his brain on how to solve his current predicament due to the citizens of Snowdin growing more violent._

_Rumors had somehow broken out that the only reason Papyrus wanted to join the Royal Guard was to take Undyne’s position as Captain. Stories had apparently now been accepted as fact. Now, neither of the brothers could even step outside their own home without risking being attacked._

_Sans did his best to avoid the worst of the attacks whenever he went out for groceries or to go to any one of the 5 jobs he had to keep paying for the house they both lived in, despite his 1HP. He avoided it all, thanks to his shortcuts and ability to dodge, but Papyrus knew this couldn’t last much longer._

_Papyrus continued to wrack his brain, or rather, lack of one, for any ideas on how to solve all of this. He knew this couldn't be left alone. He needed to do something about it. Something that would somehow tip things for the better in their favor. He just needed to keep Sans safe. Or at the very least, alive. And Papyrus knew even with Sans’s strange magic that his brother just couldn’t keep dodging forever. Eventually, he would be too tired to escape, and all it would take is one good hit on him, one slip up. Just one measly little mistake and-_

_If_ **_only_ ** _he could somehow convince the town and especially Undyne, that he deserved to be in the Royal Guard somehow... If he could JUST get her to change her mind about him, that he’s too “innocent” and “kind.” He didn't even_ **_want_ ** _her position. He knew how hard and how many more responsibilities Undyne had being the Leader, and he wasn’t sure he’d be willing to be away from Sans for so long. However, he DID want to be in the Guard because doing so means he’d be closer to the King, and thus, so would Sans, and they’d be protected by him._

_He just wanted to be in the Guard to keep his brother safe. Indeed, if he had a much higher rank, he'd be able to do just that, right? If only-_

_That was when it finally clicked._

_Papyrus gasped when an idea had yet been formulated in his mind._

_“hey bro, breakfast is ready!” Sans shouted from the kitchen, just as he placed the plates full of slices of quiche out on the table. “come on! before it gets cold!” _

_Papyrus frowned, glaring from the couch, as he continued to sit and not move. “I’M. NOT. HUNGRY.” He snarled as he finally decided what he should do. He continued to wrack his brain and now started to argue with himself how fucked this plan was. _

_Papyrus’s fingers continued to flex and dig into his skull as he sat on the couch, slumped over, his elbows on his knees and head buried in his palms. ‘ARGH, IS THIS REALLY THE ONLY WAY…? I CAN’T DO THIS. I CAN’T DO THIS. I CAN’T-’ _

_‘YOU CAN. YOU HEARD UNDYNE. SHE SPECIFICALLY EXPLAINED THE REASON SHE CAN’T LET INTO THE GUARD IS BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO NICE AND INNOCENT. THIS IS YOUR ONLY OPTION!’ Papyrus imagined talking to another version of himself as his inner mental turmoil manifested itself, and he began to argue with _

_‘BUT SANS HAS JUST 1HP- I CAN’T DO THIS TO HIM, THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!!’ Papyrus pleaded, his phalanges digging in his skull even more now. ‘THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!! THIS ISN’T RIGHT!! THIS IS-’ _

_‘SINCE WHEN WAS THIS WORLD EVER ‘RIGHT?’’ The ‘other’ Papyrus argued back, and Paps had to recall when Undyne was left to die in his arms after her eye had been gouged out by the King right in front of him, as punishment for her ‘speaking out of turn.’ And once again, Papyrus felt something snap inside of him. _

_“paps?” Papyrus heard his brother speak from the darkness of his own mind. He was slowly being pulled further down into, “c’mon bro, you haven’t eaten anything yet. yer food will get cold, and well, ya need to eat if ya wanna keep growin’ strong and healthy. no, future royal guard can go out to train on an empty stomach. come join me, alright?” Sans urged, frowning at his younger brother from the kitchen. _

_Papyrus continued to sit there and not move. Slowly he started to shift, but only so he could lay out on the couch outstretched as he draped his arm right over his skull and gave out a pronounced sigh. “....NOT HUNGRY, BROTHER. THANKS,” Papyrus said, more coldly than he intended. He quickly grabbed a pillow from the ratty old couch and pancaked his skull under it as he continued to fight with himself once more and go back to his thoughts. _

_ ‘COME ON, PAPS. YOU KNOW I’M RIGHT. SINCE WHEN WAS THIS WORLD EVER ‘ALRIGHT?’ HMMM? WHAT KIND OF A WORLD IS THIS WHERE PEOPLE ALL AROUND YOU KEEP KILLING EACH OTHER FOR SOME ‘FREE EXP?’’ The ‘other’ Papyrus taunted, ‘STOP BEING FOOLISH ALREADY. AND GET UP.’ _

_‘I CAN’T...HURT SANS… NOT MY BROTHER. I WANT TO_ **_PROTECT_ ** _HIM! NOT HARM HIM!!!’_ _Papyrus shouted back, squeezing his eye sockets shut tightly. He just wanted this other voice to stop. How could he even SUGGEST ever doing such a thing?! Sans was the only family he had! His flesh and blood! And he didn’t even have either of those things!!! How could he ever justify putting on a show and beating up his own brother just to prove himself? Just for the sake of becoming an official Guard member! How could-_

 _‘THAT'S EXACTLY WHY YOU HOLD_ BACK _, DUMBASS!! COME ON, IT’S JUST LIKE WHEN YOU SPAR WITH HIS BROTHER. IT’S NOT LIKE YOU WANT TO_ **_KILL_ ** _HIM AND GET THE EXP OFF YOUR OWN BROTHER’S DUST ON YOUR HANDS!!!’_ _The other Papyrus continued to taunt, even closing in on the real version and whispering into the side of his skull, ‘THOUGH, COME TO THINK OF IT, THAT WOULD BE PRETTY HILARIOUS. TO WATCH.’ _

_‘AND ANYWAYS, YOU ONLY NEED TO KEEP HURTING HIM UNTIL SOMEONE GOES TO TELL THE GUARD AND UNDYNE ABOUT WHAT YOU DID. BRING HIM OUTSIDE SO THE ENTIRE TOWN CAN SEE THE TRUE_ **_MONSTER_ ** _YOU REALLY ARE INSIDE!!’_ _The ‘other’ Papyrus smirked and leaned back a bit away from him, ‘AND ANYWAYS, EVERYONE ELSE IS TOO STRONG FOR SOMEONE LIKE YOU TO DO THIS ON. IT ABSOLUTELY _ **_HAS_ ** _TO BE YOUR BROTHER.’_

 _‘YOU AND YOUR BROTHER ARE THE ONLY ONES WITH JUST 1LV. YOU’LL BE KILLED IN AN INSTANT IF YOU GO AFTER ANYONE ELSE. YOU_ **_KNOW_ ** _THIS IS YOUR BEST AND ONLY CHANCE TO GET INTO THE ROYAL GUARD.’_

 _“URGH…” Papyrus made an audible groan, pushing the pillows over his head as he gritted his teeth tighter. “THAT DOESN’T MAKE THIS RIGHT THOUGH… THAT STILL DOESN’T MAKE _ **_ANY_ ** _OF THIS RIGHT….”_ _Papyrus mumbled out-loud just under his breath so Sans couldn’t hear him._

_He could hear Sans putting the dishes in the sink and grabbing his stool behind his back. And Papyrus assumed he was getting ready to wash the pots and pans now._

_Some part of him hoped that Sans would stop pushing, already regretting what he was planning to do, even if he knew it absolutely_ **_had_ ** _to be done._

 _He mainly knew Undyne would never allow him to be a Royal Guard because he was too sweet. He absolutely_ had _to prove to her he accepted this “Kill or Be Killed” law was just the way things were. And that there was nothing anyone could do to change things..._

_He needed to make himself ice cold._

_No matter how much Paps hated everything about his plan, he also knew that it couldn’t be helped. Undyne said it himself that he was too “kind” and “innocent” to ever become a Royal Guard._

_He HAD to become the killer that Undyne and the entire world seemed to want from him._

**_If the world wanted him to become a monster in the truest sense of the word, then so be it._ **

_Sans face began to scrunch up, he once again turned towards his brother as he put his step-stool away and dried his hands after putting the dishes away. “paps? papyrus, come on. i thought it was _ my  _job to be the lazy brother around here.”_ _Sans began to joke, still trying to get his brother to come and join him. “paps. come on. get up, come eat with your big brother!” _

_“YOU KNOW SANS… MAYBE I JUST DON’T WANT TO EAT TODAY. AND MAYBE- MAYBE I JUST DON’T WANT TO EAT QUICHE. YOU EVER THINK OF THAT?” Papyrus snarled at his brother. He lowered his arm just a little and slightly turned his head to glare at the older. “TSK, BUT OF COURSE. YOU _ **_NEVER_ ** _ASK ME WHAT_ **_I_ ** _WANT. YOU_ **_NEVER_ ** _ASK ME TO DO_ **_ANYTHING._** _I-I DON’T EVEN NEED YOU. YOU KNOW?!”_ _Papyrus removed the pillow off his skull and turned his head to glare at Sans behind him from over his shoulder._

_“excuse me?” Sans eye sockets widened when Papyrus had snapped out to him from where he continued to lay on the couch. “wh- what’s this about, bro? don’t talk to me like that..! pap, what’s wrong? why- what’s your deal? i just wanted to share breakfast with you; you’re my little br-” _

_“I’M NOT SO ‘LITTLE’ ANY MORE. I MEAN- I’M LITERALLY A FOOT TALLER THAN YOU!” Papyrus’s voice raised. He began to push himself off the couch with his elbows, not removing his glare from Sans the whole time. “I DON’T _ NEED _YOU TO ALWAYS PROTECT ME, SANS. I DON’T…_ **_NEED_ ** _YOU TO ALWAYS HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF ME!!”_

 _ “wh- what the heck are you talking about, paps? of _ course _, you still need me; you’re only 10!”_ _Sans startled, though he kept his ground, even as sweat started to drip from his skull in worry and a little bit of fear. “what’s gotten into you, paps? i’m just… trying to take care of you, alright? what’s wrong?” _

_‘HIT HIM WHERE IT HURTS.’ Papyrus heard the ‘other’ Papyrus speak out to him once more in his head. A pang of regret had hit the center of Papyrus SOUL, and Papyrus gritted his teeth in anger as he began to slowly stand up from where he was laying out on the couch. _

_“WHAT’S WRONG? WHAT’S. WRONG?! I’LL TELL YOU WHAT’S WRONG HERE, SANS.” Papyrus began to laugh bitterly before the orange glow of both his eye sockets got stronger. He marched himself forward, jabbing a finger right into Sans sternum. _

_Papyrus mentally winced when he heard Sans make a slight wincing sound. But Papyrus’s expression never betrayed him as he locked eye sockets with the much shorter skeleton right in front of him that he was continuing to push down._

_“WHAT’S WRONG IS THAT I’M_ TIRED _OF BEING LOOKED DOWN UPON BY SOME. WEAK., PATHETIC, FEEBLE,_ **_DEFECTIVE,_ ** _FRAGILE, PUNY, LITTLE,_ **_MIDGET_ ** _WITH JUST_ **_1HP._** _JUST. BECAUSE. YOU. HAPPENED. TO BE. BORN._ **_FIRST!!!_ ** _” Papyrus shouted into Sans’s face as he continued to shove a finger deep into Sans sternum. Emphasizing each word by practically gluing Sans into the ground. Papyrus gave a particularly tough push that caused Sans to feel a crack start to form on his chest. Sans made another groan in pain as he saw that his HP dropped from the full 1HP that he had all the way down to .86HP._

_“pap!!” Sans pleaded. “p-pap, please…!” Sans grimaced. He somehow manages to call some strength to shove Paps hand off of him, at least just enough to alleviate some of the pressure off his chest even as he was thoroughly pinned to the ground. _

_Sans gave his brother a pleading look that clearly told Papyrus he had no ill feelings towards Papyrus. Even as he continued to glare down at his brother._

_Papyrus flinched at the expression Sans was giving him, and he tried to imagine that instead of looking down at his brother, he was staring down at Asgore to distract himself. He tried his hardest to focus on that idea. That instead, he was beating the King down for making their world the way it was. For forcing everyone to kill and hurt each other to survive. To do all this to everyone and make them feel true misery. To make the King pay for harming his best friend and for taking her eye. For all the suffering he had caused to everybody else._

_It worked a little, but it obviously wasn't enough when he was made aware of the gentle, frantic pulses of magic he felt coming from Sans SOUL. He was once made even more aware that he was still attacking his brother no matter what he fantasized about. He was still hurting his 1HP sibling, who did nothing to deserve this..._

_Papyrus’s fists clenched tightly, his body visibly shaking when he saw the pained expression on Sans’s face along with something that was there too._

_It was transparent Sans was in a lot of pain right now due to Papyrus continuing to pin him down and the audible cracking of Sans sternum. However, even through all the pain, Sans was still looking up at Papyrus with all the love and compassion he had in his heart for his baby brother even though he was hurting him right now._

_Sans seemed to notice his brother’s hesitation as one arm let go of his brother's hand and instead reached out to pat Papyrus on the cheek, “b-bro… it’s okay. your just… sc-scared, is that it? because of w-what’s happening outside this door? it’s okay…” Sans tried to calm him down, while soothingly rubbing his thumb against Papyrus’s lower jaw bone in an affectionate matter. _

_Papyrus hadn’t even realized that he started to cry, and felt a singular tear roll down his face and onto Sans’s hands when Sans had pretty much hit the nail right on the head. “SANS…” Papyrus stuttered out before he was even able to stop himself. _

_ ‘DO NOT SHOW WEAKNESS!!! THIS IS EXACTLY WHY UNDYNE WON’T LET YOU INTO THE GUARD, YOU MORON!!!’ Once again, Papyrus heard his mind screaming at him. ‘THE WORLD OUT THERE WOULD SOONER KILL YOU IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE LIKE THIS!! STEEL YOURSELF FROM YOUR EMOTIONS!!’ _

_Papyrus shut his eye sockets tightly, realizing this mistake. His glare returned, along with all the hate and misery Papyrus had in his SOUL because of the world they lived in and what this world was making him do. As Paps strength increased and both of them heard something CRACK right at that moment._

_Sans let out a shout in pain as Paps hand came away a little bloodied, and Sans saw his HP go further down to .75 from the former .86HP._

_Sans was amazed at how much control Papyrus had and how he somehow managed not to dust him, despite how angry he was and felt from his magic._

_ ‘what the fuck is going on here? did pap really not like quiche that much? but he always ate whatever i gave him. what’s going on?’ Sans wondered as he looked directly back into his younger brother’s eye sockets with an expression of love, confusion, and pain all at once. “p-pap… please…!” _

_‘STOP!! LOOKING!! AT!! ME!! LIKE!! THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ Papyrus thought to himself desperately when he again felt the gentle pulses of magic Sans was trying to send him, to calm Papyrus down. _

_Papyrus swung his other arm in a blur of movement, quickly punching Sans in the face. Sans felt his skull jerk to the right. “gah!” _

_The next second, Sans was only made half-aware that his SOUL was now turned blue._

_Before Sans could even register what in the world was happening, he was lifted off the ground by his SOUL and then thrown back into the kitchen. Sans spine crashed into the dining room table, and the food, plates, and utensils crashed to the floor._

_“ugh!! p-pap…? w-why?” Sans stammered out from the floor. He instinctively CHECKed himself, realizing he was now down to 0.67. Sans glanced back up again, terror clear as day was plastered all over Sans face at the thought that Paps really _ **_was_ ** _trying to kill him…!!!_

_ “DO YOU EVEN KNOW AT ALL HOW MUCH THE OTHER MONSTER CHILDREN BULLY ME BECAUSE OF YOU?! BECAUSE I’VE BEEN HIT SO MANY TIMES BY THEM, EVEN MORE THAN THE TIMES YOU WERE THERE TO STOP!! THEY JUST KEEP DOING IT! AND I’M SICK AND TIRED OF IT ALL, BUT MORE SO, I’M SICK OF YOU!!” Papyrus shouted though some part of him told him that wasn’t a good enough excuse for why Paps wanted to hurt his brother so profoundly. _

_Sans said absolutely nothing. Confusion and anger filled his SOUL at the idea that Papyrus was attacking him._

_Papyrus._

_His only brother._

_The one thing he loved and cared about the most had just now ATTACKED him._

_“p-pap, please--” Sans stammered, trying to get some sense back into his precious little brother. Sans grunted as he struggled to get back up again, but his SOUL was still blue, and thus the gravity around him kept him pinned to the floor. _

_Papyrus’s hysterical laughter began to fill the house._

_“HAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha…” Papyrus calmed down enough as he once again locked eye sockets with his older sibling. “Don’t You Get It, Yet Sans? I DON’T NEED YOU!! I DON’T NEED YOU TO KEEP TAKING CARE OF ME!! I-” _

_ “HAHAHAHAHA….!!!!!”  _

_Papyrus sneered as he glared down at his older brother, who was still stuck to the ground and unable to move. “I COULD LITERALLY. KILL YOU RIGHT NOW, AND NO ONE WOULD EVEN BAT AN EYE, RIGHT?! AFTER ALL, THIS WORLD IS “KILL OR BE KILLED” AND YOU. ARE TOO _ _WEAK_ _AND_ **_STUPID_ ** _TO EVEN STOP ME!”_

 _Sans felt the strong surge of killing intent begin to fill the house coming from Papyrus, and Sans's powerful, magical eye began to activate once again, flaring a dark and deep red as something told him to fight back. To do_ something _or he really will die…!_

_Sans began to turn Paps' own SOUL blue. With a heavy heart, he shoved his hand forward and threw Papyrus out of the house by his SOUL and out through the front door. Papyrus’s back slammed hard into the smooth hardwood, blowing the door cleanly right off the hinges, with only the bottom-most one keeping the wooden door still there._

_The tall skeleton continued to be thrown. Only stopping when he’d crashed into some passerby who'd just so happened to be strolling by._

_With the effect on his SOUL now broken, Sans managed to push himself back up onto his shaky legs for only the moment as Papyrus was too distracted in getting up again. He staggered forward, one hand pressed hard against the open hole to his sternum as he tried to stop the bleeding, and began to charge ahead and ran out of the house without even putting his slippers on to check on Paps._

_Sans vision was blurred from the intense sharp pain in his chest. Still, he was too worried for his brother's safety after having thrown him outside, despite knowing he most likely didn’t even hurt him that much, considering his 1ATK of damage every hit._

_ “p-pap!! a-are you o-?!” Sans had called out, his eyes panicking as they darted to the taller skeleton, who had now quickly recovered and was now back to his feet. Papyrus’s right eye socket was flaring an angry orange. His socket and the entire right side of his skull appeared to be on fire. _

_It was also then Sans noticed a crowd beginning to gather around the two brothers now._

_ “YOU USELESS FUCK! YOU’RE DEAD TO ME!” Papyrus screamed. His hands were, glowing blue and the second that Sans had gotten within a few feet from Papyrus, his SOUL was once again coated in blue magic. _

_Papyrus waved his arm to the side, quickly tossing Sans around like a rag doll by his SOUL as Sans was thrown against many, many trees, the ground, and even against the Underground ceiling. His right eye socket was smashed hard into a stalactite. Cracking the socket around the hole._

_“aaaaaaugh!!!” Sans screamed as he was once more thrown onto the ground, creating a sort of mini crater there. _

**_*THOOM!!!!*_ **

_“gh..! ungh..." Sans gritted his teeth in agony. He laid in the snow for a second, waiting for the stinging pain to go away, and he struggled to get back up again. He managed to push himself up onto his elbows when he felt blood- or his own mysterious version of it start to drip down over his right eye socket. One hand moved over the fresh crack over his eye socket, trying to rub the sting away, as his other one began to push himself up again. He instinctively CHECKed his HP also and saw it was now at .52 HP. _

_A nearby rabbit monster grabbed Sans by the shoulder, lifting the shorter skeleton back onto his feet and shaking legs. Then roughly shoved him forward. Forcing him right back into the fight as, by this point, the entire town was now watching the two skeleton brothers have at it. Each and every one of the Snowdin citizens chanting out the words to: “FIGHT!!” “FIGHT!!” “FIGHT!!!”_

_Sans stumbled forward, nearly tripping on his own feet as he hadn’t even had the time he needed to recover quite yet. Sans tried to focus his eye lights on his younger brother, ignoring the pain to his eye, when suddenly a hard kick was harshly delivered into his rib cage. The blow caught Sans entirely off guard, sending the shorter skeleton flying backward off his feet for a couple seconds before landing squarely on his back._

_“hngh!!” Sans gasped when all the breath was taken right out of his nonexistent lungs. His Hp now drops down significantly to 0.36. _

_Papyrus had once again begun to run forward towards him. Pure hatred as clear as day on his face, even as Sans was still struggling to recover from the brutal blow. Pain danced along his spine and down to the very tips of each of his limbs, preventing him from moving._

_He couldn’t move, didn’t_ **_want_ ** _to move, his magic raced through him wildly—trying its hardest to help him recover from the very near-death experience he was now in the middle of being._

_And there was Papyrus, out of focus as he’d materialized right next to him. Papyrus began to pull back his leg, swinging it back forward. The toe of his boot dug hard into the side of Sans rib cage and momentarily lifted the tiny skeleton off the ground by the force of the kick._

_“gaaaaah!!” Sans screamed. His eye sockets widened, his eye lights shrank into tiny pin pricks when he was once again caught off guard, and his HP took a massive dip. _

_Sans fell onto his back, and he cursed at his woeful stats when he once more felt his HP drop also down to 0.25._

_Papyrus once again mentally winced, one eye socket closing shut as he saw his brother be lifted off the ground a few inches by the force of his kick. He could just barely hear the crowd all around them continuing to chant from the rush of adrenaline pumping through his nonexistent veins._

_ ‘THIS IS IT, IDIOT!! NO TURNING BACK NOW! DON’T FUCK THIS UP. THE ENTIRE TOWN IS WATCH YOU BOTH!!’ Cried the ‘other’ Papyrus inside of Pappy's thoughts. ‘KEEP IT UP, SURELY SOMEONE IS BOUND TO TELL UNDYNE ABOUT YOU! THEY’D _ **_HAVE TO_ ** _LET YOU INTO THE ROYAL GUARD NOW!!’_

_‘I SURE HOPE SO…. I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH PUNISHMENT SANS CAN TAKE…’ Papyrus thought to himself as he completely steeled himself to Sans cries of pain as he began to repeatedly kick Sans over and over to his ribcage and damaged sternum.. _

_Papyrus’s SOUL began to crack from the conflicting emotions Papyrus felt for what he’d just done. He made a mental note to have a talk with Sans when he can bring him inside and heal him. He could only hope that Sans wouldn’t hate him after all this, though if he did, he knew he couldn’t blame him even one bit._

_ ‘...I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER  _ I  _CAN KEEP DOING THIS..’_

_The kicks continued to keep coming and coming, and Sans felt his HP dropping more and more. Try as Sans might, he just couldn’t find the strength he needed to fight back. And he was in far too much pain to even defend himself either. Even as he felt the magic rising to the surface of his body like boiling water bubbles, hissing steam, popping and burning everything in his left eye socket. He just couldn’t bring himself to purposely hurt Papyrus, despite how much Paps was now breaking his body and cutting him down like the trash that he was. He couldn’t turn on Papyrus no matter what he did to him._

_There HAD to some sort of reason for this sudden change! Could the flower have something to do with it?_

_As a defense, Sans tried to use his arms as a cover and summon up some bones to use as a shield, but that only made the kicks start to aim for his skull instead._

_"gah!! b-bro, please….! y-you...need to stop this!" Sans stuttered out, alternating trying to protect his skull and his ribcage from the repeating kicks to his head and now shattered and broken rib cage. _

_The term ‘bro’ seemed to have triggered something into Papyrus. And both his eye sockets once again flared out with powerful orange magic as Papyrus pulled back his leg as if rewinding it up again. He let it go, and Sans only just barely managed to even get the first syllable of Papyrus’s name out before Sans was interrupted when he’d let out a horrifying, pain-driven scream when the kick connected._

_Sans and Papyrus both heard the loud CRACK in Sans’s ribs, and then Sans felt it when the bone had been snapped off entirely._

_Papyrus’s foot continued to dig inwards, his jaw tightening when he nearly touched the vulnerable SOUL resting inside before he slid his foot back out again. Both brothers witnessed as a piece of Sans ribs had been sent flying high up over their heads before landing into the snow as well. The rib was then shortly followed by a blood trail that began to stain through Sans clothing, all over Papyrus’ boot, and out and in between Sans’s teeth when he coughed._

_“p….pa...p...” Sans struggled to speak, in between his gasps for breath as he struggled to breathe. His bones rattled in pure and utter agony. And every single rise and fall of his chest was like torture. It made his bones feel as if someone had caught them on fire. _

_Indeed, his HP_ had _to have been so dangerously low by this point. He felt himself hanging onto consciousness and life by a thread. Stars, everything just hurt so much._

 _He just couldn’t figure out why everything had to have gone so wrong today. He’d_ **_never_ ** _seen Papyrus be this angry with him before. Even when Sans played his practical jokes and pranks on his brother had never driven him to be_ this _mad with him..._

_Sure they’d argued several times before. What brothers don’t have arguments every now and again? But things had never heated up to the point that they got super physical with each other. Or even involved the whole town in witnessing such a thing either._

NEVER _had it gotten so violent that Sans was left nearly half dead. Just holding onto consciousness by the skin of his teeth and by the love that he still held for his younger brother deep within his SOUL. It was the only thing that prompted Sans to want to get up. Forcing him to push himself up onto his front with his elbow and gave him the strength to crawl so agonizingly slow. Pulling himself forward by his arms when his legs proved too useless to move and reach forward for him._

_“p-p...ap...y...rus…” Sans slurred as he grabbed his brother's ankle and held onto him for dear life. “d...don’t...go… w...ngh, what… whatev…ever’s h-happening... w-we can... do this… together... pap… please…” Sans struggled to look upwards, but at this point, he could now only see out of his left eye, and his skull felt like it weighed over 100 pounds. “i… i l-love… you….paps.. p-please….” _

_It was as if Sans was afraid that_ his _Papyrus would be gone entirely if he let go now._

_Papyrus continued to glare downward at his brother, even as he’d let Sans grab his shoe. He also could feel that there was no real grip over his shoe whatsoever, even as he felt the fear from Sans magic strong as ever. And yet, the tall skeleton was left frozen to where he stood._

_A moment passed until Papyrus began to bend forward, holding Sans by the hood of his coat, and abruptly lifted the battered, bleeding skeleton off the snowy, now red-stained snow-covered ground._

_Sans was now dangling entirely off of the ground by literally just the hood of his jacket. Barely conscious and was now staring face to face with a very pissed-off younger brother through blurry vision. Slowly, Paps released Sans hoodie, allowing the limp skeleton to fall before catching him again by his inner shirt’s collar. Jerking him upwards so that he could now ultimately hold Sans off the ground by both arms while still somewhat supporting the rest by letting Sans rest up against his own chest. Sans legs dangled helplessly, and everything was nothing but pain._

_Still, Sans struggled to entirely focus his eye lights onto his younger brother and began to reach up, grabbing hold of Papyrus’s wrists. “b...br...bro...ple...ase… don’t... don't... do this.” _

_ "YOU DARE CALL ME YOUR BROTHER?!" Papyrus screamed, his face contorting even more into pure anger, as his face began to redden a bit. “WHAT PART OF “I DON’T NEED YOU” DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?!” _

_Sans had wanted to say more, but he found it more challenging to talk and breathe simultaneously the more time that passed. Through the tiny eye lights within Papyrus’s skull, Sans finally saw that Papyrus no longer held the love and compassion he once did. Everything that was once the ‘old Papyrus’ that always wanted to do and_ be _good was utterly gone. Replaced by nothing more than irreversible hate and anger._

_And the thought of that, that he’d quite possibly never see his precious baby brother ever again, absolutely terrified Sans to his very core. Knowing that he’d somehow fucked it up so bad, trying to raise and protect Papyrus himself that it made his own brother want to just wholly end him._

_"i-i’m s….so...sorry...b-boss...w-won’t...happen ag-again." Sans heard himself say before he was even aware of it. And it was then he noticed how his brother's expression had softened the slightest bit at this, as his grip around him lessened though only slightly. _

_Once again, Papyrus felt his SOUL start to crack more at how easily Sans had taken the submissive role. Had he really broken Sans this badly?_

_Still, Papyrus refused to show any of his genuine emotions, as he continued to hold Sans by nothing by the collar of his shirt and off the ground as his expression softened._

_ “AH, THAT’S MUCH BETTER, SANS,” Papyrus smirked in amusement. And for a moment, Sans seemed to relax just enough that he’d somehow quelled Papyrus’s anger, even if only he did make a small dent in it. “SO YOU _ **_CAN_ ** _LEARN WHAT YOUR PLACE IS, SANS. WELL DONE.”_

_ “th...than...ks...b-br-” _

_Without warning, Papyrus released one of his hands and then, with one arm, had then immediately slammed Sans head-first, full force into the snowy ground. Striking him, just as Paps had then stomped his foot, and several sharp bones appeared from the ground. In turn, completely decimating Sans’s right arm off entirely._

_Sans let out a sharp gasp as his entire arm had practically exploded from the impact. There was a sickening crack, and the next thing Sans knew, he was just barely holding onto life now by at least 0.01 out of his max level of 1HP._

_And then his arm was completely gone._

_Replaced instead by a completely empty and bloody sleeve. Sans was in shock as he laid there, still conscious but only barely. Watching as all around him, he saw the bloodied pieces of bone rain down around him._

_ "YOU USELESS PILE OF GARBAGE, IF I HEAR YOU CALL ME YOUR BROTHER EVER AGAIN, I SWEAR I WILL FEED YOU TO THE DOGS!" Papyrus snapped, knowing Sans was most likely still conscious. A part of him kept telling him to stop and that he was going a bit too far. _

_Still, Papyrus had to keep up the act. He had to make absolutely sure no one would ever doubt him or be able to try and use Sans as leverage against him. He had to keep his brother safe, even if it meant that Sans would hate him forever, or believe it himself, that Papyrus no longer cared for him._

_It was this decision that drove Paps to kneel down beside his brother, grabbing Sans by the skull and push his head even further down onto the ground._

_“ungh…!” Sans grimaced in pain, his eye sockets squeezing shut, when he felt like his skull was slowly being crushed as Papyrus continued to press down on him. “b-bo-... boss, s...st…op…!” Sans begged, even though somehow his 0.01HP wasn’t going down any lower. The pain was still intolerable by this point. _

_"FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS, YOU. ARE_ **_NOT_ ** _MY BROTHER ANY LONGER! I WILL NEVER ACCEPT YOU AS ONE AND I_ **_NEVER_** _WILL! YOU ARE TO CALL ME ONLY “BOSS” IS THAT CLEAR?!"_

_"y...y...e...s… b-boss… p...ple...a...se...!!” Sans gasped out, his vision starting to go black from the pain. “p-pl...please… s-st..stop...” _

_"HMPH. GOOD. FINALLY, SOMETHING THAT GOT THROUGH THAT THICK SKULL OF YOURS...” Papyrus spat out as he carefully lifted his hand off his brother's head before standing. Sans struggled to gasp in relief even though he still hurt all over, and he could scarcely move a single part of his body anymore. His eye lights had long extinguished themselves, and he was still hanging onto consciousness, though only just barely. _

_ ‘was this really it…?’ Sans thought he fought against his own body and the darkness that was starting to take him over. His mind was still swimming with confusion as he wondered where did he go wrong... _

_Did Papyrus really hold it against him that Sans couldn’t always keep him safe? Did Papyrus really consider Sans so lowly that, just because of his weak stats and the fact that they never seem to improve, no matter how much Sans slept, or even how high his LV got, that he genuinely didn’t need him anymore?_

_Some part of Sans wholeheartedly wished that all of this was just some bad, really fucked up dream and that perhaps soon the flower would RESET and he’d be able to have his little brother back._

_But somehow, he knew that this was reality._

_After all, four whole days have already passed since the flower finally stopped RESETting and had finally gotten bored. It had already been four days since the two brothers had lost Gaster and since Undyne had lost her eye as well. Somehow- he knew that hell was already over with, and there would BE no going back._

_Tears started to fall from Sans empty eye sockets when he’d realized this. Once again on his already-mangled tiny SOUL, he felt another crack form, added to the dozens, if not hundreds of small hairline cracks from all the RESETs._

_‘i guess...this really is it for us…’ Sans thought, his eye lights extinguishing as he watched Papyrus slowly start to walk away from him. Sans watched. His body but his mind was completely and utterly broken as Papyrus slowly got further and further away from him. _

_ ‘papyrus…’ _

_The crowd was now allowing Papyrus to pass, opening up when the taller walked by them all. Papyrus already looked like such a powerful and robust Royal Guard member as he walked. His back was straight and as strong as ever._

_Soon enough, Papyrus was approached by Dogamy. And the two seemed to be talking about something that Sans couldn’t quite hear as he slowly started to give himself up to the sweet bliss of unconsciousness._

_Though one thing_ did _somehow manage to reach Sans nonexistent ears, “KNOW YOUR PLACE. RUNT.” Papyrus threatened as his eye lights shifted to the very corners of his sockets, and Sans knew that Paps was somehow glaring at him. He turned to the other Guard Members immediately after saying that as well. “MAKE SURE NO ONE TOUCHES A SINGLE BONE ON THAT PATHETIC WHELPS BODY…” _

_“Why don’t you just kill him and be done with it? It looks like he’s on the way there anyway. Just end the little shit’s misery. It’d be a MERCY for him at this point.”RG-01 brought up, speaking quietly so that Papyrus only just barely heard him utter it out. But he DID listen to him._

_ “I COULD STILL USE HIM. HE’S A TOOL FOR ME TO USE AND NOTHING MORE. DON’T. TOUCH. HIM. OR ELSE YOU WANT TO END UP LIKE HE DID?” Papyrus snapped out quickly without even missing a single beat at all._

_“N-No way!! S-Sorry…”_

* * *

“heh. i learned my place a long time ago, boss. i get it.” Sans finally finished, still keeping a close eye on Papyrus as he put his hands right back into his coat pockets, “so, why would th’ oh great cap’n o’ the royal guard worry for some _nobody_ like me?”

“SANS, YOU’RE NOT A NOBODY!!!” Papyrus shouted, sounding quite alarmed. 

“oh right, i’m a runt too. i forgot. thanks papyrus. heh… how could i have possibly forgot about that?” Sans gave a shit-eating grin.

“SANS!! THAT’S ENOUGH!!” Papyrus snapped, actually slapping Sans across the face to snap him out of the hysteria.

“ngh…!” Sans winced as he nearly fell. His shoulder hit the nearby wall, and his hand immediately shot up to cradle his cheek.

Papyrus’s eye sockets widened, and his own hands shot up as well to cover his mouth as his jaw had dropped. He hadn’t expected himself to react this way. “S-SANS...I-I’M…” Papyrus stammered, tears starting to appear in his eye sockets. 

He didn’t seem to register how Sans’s HP had dropped from 20 down to 14.

“boss…? boss… it’s okay.” Sans shushed, continuing to rub his cheekbone. He turned his attention concernedly over to his little brother. Not sure what to do himself.

Once again, Sans had felt the need to want to comfort his brother and hug him tightly. The dumb part of him that still loved his brother hated seeing Papyrus look so scary.

However, the wiser, more logical side kept telling Sans he should leave NOW before Paps comes to his own senses and notices Sans HP. 

Still, Sans continued to stay, his eye sockets darkening as he thought about what he should do. Slowly, Sans raised his left hand and snapped his fingers as he made the teleport.

Right before he left however, he whispers out an, “‘m sorry….bro…” 

And then, Sans was gone.

* * *

It took yet another couple of minutes until Papyrus realized that Sans had left. Papyrus began to look around as if expecting there to be a pile of dust where his brother once stood, and he found none.

Slowly, he began to back up, falling back down onto his own bed when the heel of his red latex boots slips on the black carpet in the center of the room, with flames along the bottom. His hands slammed down over his face as he screamed. “STUPID, STUPID…! STUPID…!!!!” Papyrus hissed.

‘NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL…! STUPID-!!’ Papyrus chastised himself. Half of him was grateful he hadn’t accidentally dusted Sans at the very least, but the other was more furious at himself that he’d even attacked his brother in the first place.

After all, he knew it had been his own fault for why Sans kept thinking like this. Like he was nothing and would amount to nothing due to the amount of trauma Papyrus had given him.

Papyrus began to roll onto his side, burying his face into his bed. He continued to practically call himself every name in the book for what he’d done. He wondered how long he would need to keep this kind of thing up and how long until Papyrus felt ready to take on Asgore.

‘SANS...I’M SO, SO SORRY SANS…!’ He thought. His eye sockets began to close as he hoped that his brother would be okay…

* * *

Sans had reappeared once more into the Ruins. He let out a sigh as he once more appeared back in the flower room. He took a step back, his spine hitting a nearby wall, and he slowly began to slip down it until he reached the floor. He CHECKed himself again, and he knew for sure he’d have a bruise on his cheek once he saw his HP.

‘tsk...that’s gonna sting… a’ well…’ Sans gave a short huff as he rested his head back. The back of his skull clunking lightly against the wall behind him as he took in a breath. ‘i prob’ly deserved tha’ to be honest… jus’ th’ way life is…’

Sans knew he had to find those twins soon. He couldn’t distract himself worrying after Papyrus now or losing it again because he wanted to think about Frisk. 

He _had_ to stop them from proceeding any further at all costs…! Surely, Paps could handle himself….right?

Sans again let out another sigh, his eye lights shifting to the side to stare at the whole garden of flowers. About 5 feet away from where he was. He was in the darker part of the cavern again. Where he usually teleports to on his visits.

‘“why is it always gotta be me, huh? sorry honey…. but, i gotta coupla kids ta kill… hope ya won’t be too mad at me.” Sans whispered out loud, wondering if Frisk could hear him right now.

He slowly got up to his feet, and he activated both his eye lights. “welp, i’m going to have one **hell** of a time…!”


	6. Alternate Ending to Chapter 4 (non-canon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU/Alternate Ending where Sans fuckjing dies because Papyrus accidentally does a full 21HP of damage instead of the 6 when Pappy slaps him
> 
> Have fun c:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blame my boyfriend for this idea. he gave me permission to use this
> 
> have fun and fuck you all C: (jk love my readers i promise!!<3)

“SANS!! THAT’S ENOUGH!!” Papyrus snapped, actually slapping Sans across the face to snap him out of the hysteria.

“ngh…!” Sans winced, as he nearly fell. His shoulder hit the nearby wall, and his hand immediately shot up to cradle his cheek.

Papyrus’s eye sockets widened, and his own hands shot up as well to cover his mouth as his jaw had dropped. He hadn’t expected himself to react this way. “S-SANS...I-I’M…” Papyrus stammered, tears starting to appear in his eye sockets.

Then he saw it, the small specs of dust slowly arising from his brothers body, parts of him, disappearing, He was too rough, he slapped him too hard, he did too much damage…

He clung to his brother, pleading for it not to be true, now desperately crying out for him to stay. But as he went to hug his brother tighter, all he felt was his grip get lighter, now only feeling the soft fabric of his once brothers jacket.

There was nothing.

Nothing left.

His brother was gone, and he was the sole cause of it.

And he cried.


End file.
